Wall painting following terminal cleaning with a chlorine solution as part of an intervention to control an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in a neurosurgical intensive care unit in Israel.

BACKGROUND: To describe the use of wall painting as part of an intervention to control an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB). METHODS: An interrupted time-series analysis was performed analyzing an intervention in a neurosurgical intensive care unit (NSICU) and an inpatient hematology department in a tertiary level medical center in Israel. The intervention involved wall painting using a water based acrylic paint following patient discharge and terminal cleaning with sodium troclosene as part of an infection control bundle for an outbreak of CRAB in a NSICU and concurrent outbreaks of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) colonization/infection in the same NSICU and the hematology department. RESULTS: Between January 2013 and December 2018, 122 patients hospitalized in the NSICU were identified with new CRAB colonization/infection. The median incidence in the periods prior to/post intervention were 2.24/1000 HD (interquartile range [IQR] 0.84-2.90/1000) vs. 0/1000 HD (IQR 0-0.49/1000), respectively. Poisson regression indicated a decrease of 92% in the CRAB incidence following the intervention onset (relative risk [RR] 0.080, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.037-0.174, p < 0.001). Forty-seven patients in the NSICU and 110 in the hematology department were colonized/infected with CRE in the same time period; a significant change was not observed following the start of the intervention in either department (for NSICU RR 1.236, 95% CI 0.370-4.125, p = 0.731; for hematology RR 0.658, 95% CI 0.314-1.378, p = 0.267). CONCLUSIONS: A. baumannii is able to survive on environmental surfaces despite decontamination efforts; wall-painting as part of a bundle may be a successful infection control measure.

Containment of a Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Outbreak in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

BACKGROUND: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a challenging nosocomial pathogen in the last 50 years. OBJECTIVES: To describe an investigation and containment of an MRSA outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). METHODS: Our NICU is a 25-bed level III unit. Almost 540 neonates are admitted yearly. The index case was an 8 day old term baby. MRSA was isolated from his conjunctiva. Immediate infection control measures were instituted, including separation of MRSA+ carriers, strict isolation, separate nursing teams, and screening of all infants for MRSA. Healthcare workers and parents of positive cases were screened and re-educated in infection control measures. New admissions were accepted to a clean room and visiting was restricted. MRSA isolates were collected for molecular testing. RESULTS: MRSA was isolated from five infants by nasal and rectal swabs, including the index case. Screening of healthcare workers and families was negative. Two MRSA+ patients already known in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) located near the NICU were suspected of being the source. All NICU isolates were identical by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis but were different from the two PICU isolates. The NICU and one of the PICU isolates were defined as ST-5 strain by multilocus sequence typing. One PICU isolate was ST-627. All NICU isolates were Panton-Valentine leukocidin negative and SCCmec type IV. No further cases were detected, and no active infections occurred. CONCLUSIONS: A strict infection control policy and active screening are essential in aborting outbreaks of MRSA in the NICU.

Risk factors for acquisition of carbapenemase-producing versus non-carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales: a case-control study.

OBJECTIVES: We aimed to assess the association between carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (CRE) colonization pressure and carbapenem exposure and acquisition of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) and non-carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales (non-CP-CRE). METHODS: We conducted a parallel 1:2 matched case-control study at Rambam Health Care Campus, Israel, from January 2014 to June 2017. The cases included all adults who acquired CPE or non-CP-CRE in hospital. The controls were hospitalized patients who were negative for CRE on screening and matched by age, hospitalization division and the number of hospitalization days 90 days prior to CRE screening. The exposures of interest were high CRE colonization pressure, defined as a higher-than-median proportion of CRE carriers in the concurrent patient's department before acquisition, and carbapenem exposure, assessed as days of treatment. Conditional logistic regression was used for analyses of CPE and non-CP-CRE. RESULTS: In total, 1058 patients were included: 278 CPE and 75 non-CP-CRE cases, matched to 556 and 149 controls, respectively. High CRE colonization pressure was associated with CPE acquisition (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.6; 95% CI, 1.69-4.02); however, the duration of carbapenem treatment was not (aOR, 1.004; 95% CI, 0.98-1.03; 1-day increment). The duration of carbapenem treatment was significantly associated with non-CP-CRE acquisition (aOR per day, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03-1.11). A source patient was identified significantly more frequently in epidemiological acquisition investigations of CPE than in those of non-CP-CRE (107/240, 44.6% vs. 18/64, 28.1%, respectively; p 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: CPE acquisition was associated with horizontal transmission, whereas non-CP-CRE was associated with carbapenem exposure. Differences in the drivers of acquisition mandate tailored infection prevention efforts.

The Changing Epidemiology of Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales.

OBJECTIVE: Israeli hospitals were confronted with a major national outbreak of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) starting in 2006, caused predominantly by monoclonal Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae. Our hospital, Rambam Health Care Campus (RHCC), was one of the medical centers affected by this outbreak. We aimed to investigate the changing epidemiology of CPE at RHCC since 2006. METHODS: This was a retrospective observational cohort study performed in Northern Israel (Haifa) at RHCC, which is a primary tertiary acute care academic hospital. The study included all patients who had acquired CPE at RHCC between January 2005 and December 2020. RESULTS: The proportion of patients infected with K. pneumoniae dropped from 100% of all CPE in the first years to 28% (37/134) in 2020. In 2014, the carbapenemase in 94% of all CPE patients (89/95) was KPC. This decreased to 56% in 2020, while New Delhi metallo-ß-lactamase (NDM) and OXA-48 carbapenemases increased from 4% and 2% to 29% (39/134) and 12.7% (17/134) of CPE, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The CPE epidemic evolved from KPC-producing K. pneumoniae to involve different Enterobacterales and carbapenemases. Our results are a microcosm of the current global epidemiology attesting to globalization in bacteriology. The results have implications for infection control and antibiotic treatment of CPE infections.

Rate of colonization of health care workers by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in an endemic hospital: A prospective study.

The role of health care workers in transmission of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has not been evaluated thoroughly. We sought to determine the rate of fecal carriage of CRE among health care workers in our hospital, which is endemic for CRE (prevalence of 19 out of 800 beds and incidence of 128 out of 49,325 hospital admissions). We found no carriers among the 177 health care workers that participated in the study, suggesting that transmission does not occur through personnel gastrointestinal carriage of the bacteria.

Risk Factors for Recurrence of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Carriage: Case-Control Study.

BACKGROUND: The natural history of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) carriage and the timing and procedures required to safely presume a CRE-free status are unclear. OBJECTIVE: To determine risk factors for recurrence of CRE among presumed CRE-free patients. METHODS: Case-control study including CRE carriers in whom CRE carriage presumably ended, following at least 2 negative screening samples on separate days. Recurrence of CRE carriage was identified through clinical samples and repeated rectal screening in subsequent admissions to any healthcare facility in Israel. Patients with CRE recurrence (cases) were compared with recurrence-free patients (controls). The duration of follow-up was 1 year for all surviving patients. RESULTS: Included were 276 prior CRE carriers who were declared CRE-free. Thirty-six persons (13%) experienced recurrence of CRE carriage within a year after presumed eradication. Factors significantly associated with CRE recurrence on multivariable analysis were the time in months between the last positive CRE sample and presumed eradication (odds ratio, 0.94 [95% CI, 0.89-0.99] per month), presence of foreign bodies at the time of presumed eradication (4.6 [1.64-12.85]), and recurrent admissions to healthcare facilities during follow-up (3.15 [1.05-9.47]). The rate of CRE recurrence was 25% (11/44) when the carrier status was presumed to be eradicated 6 months after the last known CRE-positive sample, compared with 7.5% (10/134) if presumed to be eradicated after 1 year. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that the CRE-carrier status be maintained for at least 1 year following the last positive sample. Screening of all prior CRE carriers regardless of current carriage status is advised.

An outbreak of Mycobacterium mucogenicum bacteremia in pediatric hematology-oncology patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Mycobacterium mucogenicum (MM) is a rapidly growing nontuberculous mycobacterium that is commonly identified in tap water that can rarely cause bacteremia. We describe an outbreak of MM bacteremia among pediatric hematology-oncology patients. METHODS: Charts of children with MM bacteremia were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic data, underlying conditions, central venous catheter (CVC) type, duration of bacteremia, and treatment were retrieved. Epidemiologic investigation was conducted during the outbreak including environmental sampling. RESULTS: During an 8-month period (September 2005-May 2006), 8 patients aged 1.5 to 17 years had MM bacteremia. Seven patients had underlying malignancy and 1 with thalassemia major had bone marrow transplantation. The mean number of positive blood cultures was 4.2 (1-11) per patient. Two patients received antibiotic treatment in addition to removal of CVC. All patients were cured. Almost 60 environmental samples were obtained from surfaces, ice, and municipal water supply. All were negative and no source was documented. Infection control measures included emphasis on guidelines for prevention of CVC-associated infections. No cases occurred before and after this outbreak. CONCLUSIONS: MM is a rare agent of CVC-associated bacteremia. Removal of the CVC may be sufficient for management of bacteremia. In the absence of definite source identification, reinforcement of standard infection control measures can be successful in containing outbreaks.