Maureen K. Bolon

Effect of Daily Chlorhexidine Bathing on Hospital-Acquired Infection

BACKGROUND Results of previous single-center, observational studies suggest that daily bathing of patients with chlorhexidine may prevent hospital-acquired bloodstream infections and the acquisition of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). METHODS We conducted a multicenter, cluster-randomized, nonblinded crossover trial to evaluate the effect of daily bathing with chlorhexidine-impregnated washcloths on the acquisition of MDROs and the incidence of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections. Nine intensive care and bone marrow transplantation units in six hospitals were randomly assigned to bathe patients either with no-rinse 2% chlorhexidine-impregnated washcloths or with nonantimicrobial washcloths for a 6-month period, exchanged for the alternate product during the subsequent 6 months. The incidence rates of acquisition of MDROs and the rates of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections were compared between the two periods by means of Poisson regression analysis. RESULTS A total of 7727 patients were enrolled during the study. The overall rate of MDRO acquisition was 5.10 cases per 1000 patient-days with chlorhexidine bathing versus 6.60 cases per 1000 patient-days with nonantimicrobial washcloths (P=0.03), the equivalent of a 23% lower rate with chlorhexidine bathing. The overall rate of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections was 4.78 cases per 1000 patient-days with chlorhexidine bathing versus 6.60 cases per 1000 patient-days with nonantimicrobial washcloths (P=0.007), a 28% lower rate with chlorhexidine-impregnated washcloths. No serious skin reactions were noted during either study period. CONCLUSIONS Daily bathing with chlorhexidine-impregnated washcloths significantly reduced the risks of acquisition of MDROs and development of hospital-acquired bloodstream infections. (Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Sage Products; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00502476.).

Clinical practice guidelines for antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery

These guidelines were developed jointly by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Surgical Infection Society (SIS), and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). This work represents an update to the previously published ASHP Therapeutic Guidelines on Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in Surgery, as well as guidelines from IDSA and SIS. The guidelines are intended to provide practitioners with a standardized approach to the rational, safe, and effective use of antimicrobial agents for the prevention of surgical-site infections (SSIs) based on currently available clinical evidence and emerging issues. Prophylaxis refers to the prevention of an infection and can be characterized as primary prophylaxis, secondary prophylaxis, or eradication. Primary prophylaxis refers to the prevention of an initial infection. Secondary prophylaxis refers to the prevention of recurrence or reactivation of a preexisting infection. Eradication refers to the elimination of a colonized organism to prevent the development of an infection. These guidelines focus on primary perioperative prophylaxis.

Glycopeptides Are No More Effective than β-Lactam Agents for Prevention of Surgical Site Infection after Cardiac Surgery: A Meta-analysis

A meta-analysis was performed to investigate whether a switch from beta-lactams to glycopeptides for cardiac surgery prophylaxis should be advised. Results of 7 randomized trials (5761 procedures) that compared surgical site infections (SSIs) in subjects receiving glycopeptide prophylaxis with SSIs in those who received beta -lactam prophylaxis were pooled. Neither agent proved to be superior for prevention of the primary outcome, occurrence of SSI at 30 days (risk ratio [RR], 1.14; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.91-1.42). In subanalyses, beta-lactams were superior to glycopeptides for prevention of chest SSIs (RR, 1.47; 95% CI, 1.11-1.95) and approached superiority for prevention of deep-chest SSIs (RR, 1.33; 95% CI, 0.91-1.94) and SSIs caused by gram-positive bacteria (RR, 1.36; 95% CI, 0.98-1.91). Glycopeptides approached superiority to beta-lactams for prevention of leg SSIs (RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.58-1.01) and were superior for prevention of SSIs caused by methicillin-resistant gram-positive bacteria (RR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.33-0.90). Standard prophylaxis for cardiac surgery should continue to be beta-lactams in most circumstances.

A multicenter intervention to prevent catheter-associated bloodstream infections.

BACKGROUND Education-based interventions can reduce the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. The generalizability of findings from single-center studies is limited. OBJECTIVE To assess the effect of a multicenter intervention to prevent catheter-associated bloodstream infections. DESIGN An observational study with a planned intervention. SETTING Twelve intensive care units and 1 bone marrow transplantation unit at 6 academic medical centers. PATIENTS Patients admitted during the study period. INTERVENTION Updates of written policies, distribution of a 9-page self-study module with accompanying pretest and posttest, didactic lectures, and incorporation into practice of evidence-based guidelines regarding central venous catheter (CVC) insertion and care. MEASUREMENTS Standard data collection tools and definitions were used to measure the process of care (ie, the proportion of nontunneled catheters inserted into the femoral vein and the condition of the CVC insertion site dressing for both tunneled and nontunneled catheters) and the incidence of catheter-associated bloodstream infection. RESULTS Between the preintervention period and the postintervention period, the percentage of CVCs inserted into the femoral vein decreased from 12.9% to 9.4% (relative ratio, 0.73; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.88); the total proportion of catheter insertion site dressings properly dated increased from 26.6% to 34.4% (relative ratio, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.17-1.42), and the overall rate of catheter-associated bloodstream infections decreased from 11.2 to 8.9 infections per 1,000 catheter-days (relative rate, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.67-0.93). The effect of the intervention varied among individual units. CONCLUSIONS An education-based intervention that uses evidence-based practices can be successfully implemented in a diverse group of medical and surgical units and reduce catheter-associated bloodstream infection rates.

Improved surveillance for surgical site infections after orthopedic implantation procedures: Extending applications for automated data

BACKGROUND Screening methods that use automated data may streamline surgical site infection (SSI) surveillance and improve the accuracy and comparability of data on SSIs. We evaluated the use of automated inpatient diagnosis codes and pharmacy data to identify SSIs after arthroplasty. METHODS This retrospective cohort study at 8 hospitals involved weighted, random samples of medical records from 2128 total hip arthroplasty (THA) procedures performed from 1 July 2002 through 30 June 2004, and 4194 total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures performed from 1 July 2003 through 30 June 2005. We compared routine surveillance with screening of inpatient pharmacy data and diagnoses codes followed by medical record review to confirm SSI status. RESULTS Records from 696 THA and 1009 TKA procedures were reviewed. The SSI rates were nearly double those determined by routine surveillance (1.32% [95% confidence interval, 0.83%-1.81%] vs. 0.75% for THA; 1.83% [95% confidence interval, 1.43%-2.23%] vs. 0.71% for TKA). An inpatient diagnosis code for infection within a year after the operation had substantially higher sensitivity (THA, 89%; TKA, 81%), compared with routine surveillance (THA, 56%; TKA, 39%). Adding antimicrobial exposure of 7 days after the procedure increased the sensitivity (THA, 93%; TKA, 86%). Record review confirmed SSIs after 51% of THAs and 55% of TKAs that met diagnosis code criteria and after 25% of THAs and 39% of TKAs that met antimicrobial exposure and/or diagnosis code criteria. CONCLUSIONS Focused surveillance among a subset of patients who met diagnosis code screening criteria with or without the addition of antimicrobial exposure-based screening was more sensitive than routine surveillance for detecting SSIs after arthroplasty and could be an efficient and readily standardized adjunct to traditional methods.

Postpartum Mastitis and Community-acquired Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

This single-center, case-control study documents a relative increase in methicillin resistance among 48 cases of Staphylococcus aureus–associated postpartum mastitis during 1998–2005. Of 21 cases with methicillin resistance, 17 (81%) occurred in 2005. Twenty (95%) isolates contained the Staphylococcus cassette chromosome mec type IV gene; this suggests that the increase is due to community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Correlations of Antibiotic Use and Carbapenem Resistance in Enterobacteriaceae

ABSTRACT Epidemiological studies have shown a link between carbapenem use and resistance; however, the clinical relationship between antibiotic consumption and the epidemiology of carbapenem-intermediate or -resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CIRE) remains unclear. This study sought to analyze temporal antibiotic consumption trends for relationships with incident CIRE. In total, 310,892 days of therapy and 55 deduplicated CIRE were analyzed. When conservative corrections were applied for multiple comparisons, carbapenem class use and piperacillin-tazobactam use retained significant positive and negative relationships with the incidence of CIRE, respectively.

Cost-effectiveness analysis of an antimicrobial stewardship team on bloodstream infections: a probabilistic analysis

OBJECTIVES We sought to determine the cost-effectiveness of Antimicrobial Stewardship Teams (ASTs) on the reduction of morbidity and mortality associated with nosocomial bacteraemia. METHODS A decision analytic model compared costs and outcomes of bacteraemic patients receiving standard treatment with or without an AST consult. Patients with a bacteraemic event during their hospital admission were included in the model. Effectiveness was estimated as quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over the lifetime of patients. Model variables and costs, along with their distributions, were obtained from the literature and expert opinion. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated to estimate the cost per QALY gained from the hospital perspective. Uncertainty in ICERs was evaluated with probabilistic sensitivity analyses. The cost-effectiveness of clinical decision support systems was evaluated as a secondary analysis. RESULTS Implementing an AST for bacteraemia review cost

Impact of inactive empiric antimicrobial therapy on inpatient mortality and length of stay.

39,737 (95% CI

The Impact of Anti-infective Drug Shortages on Hospitals in the United States: Trends and Causes

27,272-53, 017) and standard treatment cost