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 2012
Review Meta AnalysisThe efficacy of daily bathing with chlorhexidine for reducing healthcare-associated bloodstream infections: a meta-analysis.
Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and quasi-experimental studies to assess the efficacy of daily bathing with chlorhexidine (CHG) for prevention of healthcare-associated bloodstream infections (BSIs). ⋯ Daily bathing with CHG reduced the incidence of BSIs, including central line-associated BSIs, among patients in the medical ICU. Further studies are recommended to determine the optimal frequency, method of application, and concentration of CHG as well as the comparative effectiveness of this strategy relative to other preventive measures available for reducing BSIs. Future studies should also examine the efficacy of daily CHG bathing in non-ICU populations at risk for BSI.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2012
Multicenter StudyPrevalence of healthcare-associated infections in acute care hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida.
To determine healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevalence in 9 hospitals in Jacksonville, Florida; to evaluate the performance of proxy indicators for HAIs; and to refine methodology in preparation for a multistate survey. ⋯ HAI prevalence in this pilot was similar to that reported in the 1970s by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control. Antimicrobial therapy was a sensitive screening variable with which to identify those patients at higher risk for infection and reduce data collection burden. Additional work is needed on validation and feasibility to extend this methodology to a national scale.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2012
Multicenter StudyThe impact of depth of infection and postdischarge surveillance on rate of surgical-site infections in a network of community hospitals.
To describe the epidemiology of surgical-site infections (SSIs) in community hospitals and to explore the impact of depth of SSI, healthcare location at the time of diagnosis, and variations in surveillance practices on the overall rate of SSI. ⋯ Inconsistent reporting methods focused on variable depths of infection and healthcare location at time of diagnosis significantly impact rates of SSI, distribution of rates of SSI, and hospital comparative-performance rankings. We believe that public reporting of SSI rates should be limited to complex SSIs diagnosed in the inpatient setting.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2012
Seasonal influenza vaccine compliance among hospital-based and nonhospital-based healthcare workers.
Influenza vaccination among nonhospital healthcare workers (HCWs) is imperative, but only limited data are available for factors affecting their compliance. ⋯ The reasons for vaccine uptake among nonhospital-based versus hospital-based HCWs differed. Targeted interventions should be aimed at workers in these settings to increase their vaccine compliance, including implementing a mandatory vaccination policy.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2012
Economic impact of ventilator-associated pneumonia in a large matched cohort.
To evaluate the economic impact of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) on length of stay and hospital costs. Design. Retrospective matched cohort study. ⋯ Our findings suggest that VAP continues to occur as defined by the new specific ICD-9 code and is associated with a statistically significant resource utilization burden, which underscores the need for cost-effective interventions to minimize the occurrence of this complication.