Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Feb 2014
Chlorhexidine bathing in a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit: impact on central line-associated bloodstream infections.
Despite implementation of recommended best practices, our central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates remained high. Our objective was to describe the impact of chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing on CLABSI rates in neonates. ⋯ We observed a decrease in CLABSI rates in CHG-bathed neonates in the absence of observed adverse events. CHG bathing should be considered if CLABSI rates remain high, despite the implementation of other recommended measures.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jan 2014
Effect of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis on surgical site infections complicating cardiac surgery.
To evaluate the effect of an optimized policy for antibiotic prophylaxis on surgical site infection (SSI) rates in cardiac surgery. ⋯ We observed a progressive and significant decrease in SSI rates after the implementation of an infection control program that included an optimized policy of preoperative prophylaxis in cardiac surgery.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jan 2014
Quantifying sources of bias in National Healthcare Safety Network laboratory-identified Clostridium difficile infection rates.
To assess the effect of multiple sources of bias on state- and hospital-specific National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) laboratory-identified Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) rates. ⋯ Changing the NHSN protocol to require reporting of age-stratified patient-days and adjusting for patient-days at risk would improve comparability of rates across hospitals. Further research is needed to validate the risk-adjustment model before these data should be used as hospital performance measures.