Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jul 2021
Evaluation of the negative predictive value of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nasal swab screening in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal swabs are utilized to guide the discontinuation of empiric MRSA therapy. In multiple studies, MRSA nasal swabs have been shown to have a negative predictive value (NPV) of ~99% in non-oncology patients with pneumonia and other infections. We evaluated the performance characteristics of a negative MRSA nasal swab in the acute myeloid leukemia (AML) populaion to determine its NPV. ⋯ A negative MRSA nasal swab has a 99% NPV for subsequent MRSA infections in AML patients with no prior history of MRSA colonization or infection. Based on these findings, a negative MRSA nasal swab can help guide de-escalation of empiric MRSA antibiotic therapy.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jul 2021
Surveillance and identification of clusters of healthcare workers with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19): Multidimensional interventions at a comprehensive cancer center.
Cases of novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were first reported in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. In this report, we describe 3 clusters of COVID-19 infections among healthcare workers (HCWs), not associated with patient exposure, and the interventions undertaken to halt ongoing exposure and transmission at our cancer center. ⋯ To our knowledge, this is the first report of a hospital-based cluster of COVID-19 infections among HCWs in a cancer hospital describing our steps to mitigate further transmission.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jul 2021
Severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among hospital workers in a severely affected institution in Madrid, Spain: A surveillance cross-sectional study.
To analyze the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in workers of a hospital located in one of the most affected areas in Spain. ⋯ Overall, >36% of our workers became infected with SARS-CoV-2, and the rate of asymptomatic infections accounted for almost 32% of all SARS-CoV-2 infections. We detected differences in the rates of infection between HCWs and nHCWs. The use of PPE and previous contact with COVID-19 patients were associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection.