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 2009
Challenges of implementing national guidelines for the control and prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonization or infection in acute care hospitals in the Republic of Ireland.
Of the 49 acute care hospitals in Ireland that responded to the survey questionnaire drafted by the Infection Control Subcommittee of the Health Protection Surveillance Centre's Strategy for the Control of Antimicrobial Resistance in Ireland, 43 reported barriers to the full implementation of national guidelines for the control and prevention of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection; these barriers included poor infrastructure (42 hospitals), inadequate laboratory resources (40 hospitals), inadequate staffing (39 hospitals), and inadequate numbers of isolation rooms and beds (40 hospitals). Four of the hospitals did not have an educational program on hand hygiene, and only 17 had an antibiotic stewardship program.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2009
Epidemiology of healthcare-associated bloodstream infection caused by USA300 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in 3 affiliated hospitals.
To describe the epidemiology of bloodstream infection caused by USA300 strains of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which are traditionally associated with cases of community-acquired infection, in the healthcare setting. ⋯ The prevalence of USA300 strains among cases of healthcare-associated MRSA bloodstream infection varied dramatically among geographically clustered hospitals. USA300 strains are replacing traditional healthcare-related strains of MRSA in some healthcare settings. Our data suggest that the prevalence of USA300 strains in the community is the dominant factor affecting the prevalence of this strain type in the healthcare setting.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2009
Nosocomial outbreak of infection with pan-drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a tertiary care university hospital.
To describe what is, to our knowledge, the first nosocomial outbreak of infection with pan-drug-resistant (including colistin-resistant) Acinetobacter baumannii, to determine the risk factors associated with these types of infections, and to determine their clinical impact. ⋯ We were not able to identify the common source for these cases of infection, but the adopted measures have proven to be effective at controlling the outbreak.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2009
Evaluation of the effectiveness of common hospital hand disinfectants against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus, and heterogeneous glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus.
The presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus (GISA) in hospitals poses a significant challenge to hospital infection control teams. The use of disinfectants for both surface and hand cleaning is an essential part of the infection control measures. ⋯ Using the EN 1040 standard criteria for the performance of disinfectants, we determined that all agents, except 50% Aquasept for hGISA and 0.33% hexachlorophene for GISA, performed effectively. However, the GISA and hGISA strains were less susceptible to triclosan-containing products, compared with the MRSA stains, but were more susceptible to products containing Betadine.