Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2006
Duration of colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus among patients in the intensive care unit: implications for intervention.
To determine the duration of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization or infection before entry and during hospitalization in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the characteristics of patients who tested positive for MRSA. ⋯ In our unit, ASCs were an effective means to identify MRSA colonization among patients admitted to the ICU. Unfortunately, the majority of identified patients had long durations of stay in our own hospital before ICU entry, with prolonged MRSA colonization. Enhanced efforts to control MRSA will have to account for the prevalence of MRSA within hospital wards and to direct control efforts at these patients in the future.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2006
Bacteriological monitoring of water reservoirs in oxygen humidifiers: safety of prolonged and multipatient use of prefilled disposable oxygen humidifier bottles.
Bacterial colony counts in water specimens from oxygen humidifiers that used reusable water reservoirs were compared with counts in water specimens from humidifiers that used prefilled disposable reservoir bottles to evaluate the effects of prolonged and multipatient use of humidifiers. Bacteria were detected after 1 week of operation in water specimens collected from many humidifiers with reusable reservoirs, but no bacteria were detected in water specimens from disposable bottles for up to 12 weeks during use of the humidifier by multiple patients.