Cost-effectiveness of a real-time spatiotemporal mapping surveillance system for meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus prevention.

OBJECTIVES: An infection surveillance system based on a hospital's digital twin [4D-Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (4D-DOSS)] is being developed in Singapore. It offers near-real-time infection surveillance and mapping capabilities. This early economic modelling study was conducted, using meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) as the pathogen of interest, to assess the potential cost-effectiveness of 4D-DOSS. METHODS: A Markov model that simulates the likelihood of MRSA colonization and infection was developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of adopting 4D-DOSS for MRSA surveillance from the hospital perspective, compared with current practice. The cycle duration was 1 day, and the model horizon was 30 days. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted, and the probability of cost-effectiveness was reported. Scenario analyses and a value of information analysis were performed. RESULTS: In the base-case scenario, with 10-year implementation/maintenance costs of 4D-DOSS of $0, there was 68.6% chance that 4D-DOSS would be cost-effective. In a more pessimistic but plausible scenario where the effectiveness of 4D-DOSS in reducing MRSA transmission was one-quarter of the base-case scenario with 10-year implementation/maintenance costs of $1 million, there was 47.7% chance that adoption of 4D-DOSS would be cost-effective. The value of information analysis showed that uncertainty in MRSA costs made the greatest contribution to model uncertainty. CONCLUSIONS: This early-stage modelling study revealed the circumstances for which 4D-DOSS is likely to be cost-effective at the current willingness-to-pay threshold, and identified the parameters for which further research will be worthwhile to reduce model uncertainty. Inclusion of other drug-resistant organisms will provide a more thorough assessment of the cost-effectiveness of 4D-DOSS.

Cost-effectiveness and clinical utility of universal pre-admission MRSA screening in total joint arthroplasty patients.

BACKGROUND: For patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA), pre-admission meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal screening has been widely adopted to prevent postoperative joint infection. However, screening cost-effectiveness and clinical utility have not been adequately evaluated. AIM: To assess the MRSA infection rate, associated costs, and costs of screening at our institution, before and after screening implementation. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study examining patients who underwent TJA at a health system in New York State, between 2005 and 2016. Patients were divided into the 'no-screening' group if the operation occurred prior to adoption of the MRSA screening protocol in 2011 and the 'screening' group if afterwards. The number of MRSA joint infections, cost of each infection, and costs associated with preoperative screening were recorded. Fisher's exact test and cost comparison analysis were performed. FINDINGS: The no-screening group had four MRSA infections in 6088 patients over a seven-year period, whereas the screening group had two in 5177 patients over five years. Fisher's exact test showed no significant association between screening and MRSA infection rate (P = 0.694). The cost of postoperative MRSA joint infection treatment was US$40,919.13 per patient, whereas annual nasal screening was US$103,999.97. CONCLUSION: At our institution, MRSA screening had little impact on infection rates and led to increased costs, with 2.5 MRSA infections required annually to meet the costs of screening. Therefore, the screening protocol may be best suited for high-risk populations, rather than the average TJA patient. The authors recommend a similar clinical utility and cost-effectiveness analysis at other institutions implementing MRSA screening programmes.

Assessment of control measures against livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in a farrow-to-finish pig herd using infectious disease modelling.

Pigs are considered to be the main reservoir for livestock-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA), which is a zoonotic opportunistic pathogen. As LA-MRSA is an occupational hazard, there is an incentive to control its spread in pig herds. Currently, knowledge about effective control measures which do not require culling the whole herd are limited, and the control strategies against LA-MRSA vary between countries. This study uses a stochastic compartment model to simulate possible control measures for LA-MRSA in a farrow-to-finish pig herd. The aims of the study were to (1) extend a previously published disease spread model with additional management and control measures; (2) use the extended model to study the effect of the individual LA-MRSA control measures on the within-herd LA-MRSA prevalence; (3) evaluate the effect of control measures when they are implemented in combinations. From the individual control measures tested in the study, thorough cleaning was found to be most effective in reducing the LA-MRSA prevalence in the herd. When the different control measures were combined, cleaning together with disease surveillance had the largest impact on reducing the LA-MRSA and a higher chance of causing disease elimination. The results of the study showed that achieving disease elimination once LA-MRSA had been introduced in the herd was challenging but was more likely when control measures were introduced early during the outbreak. This emphasises the importance of early detection of the pathogen and subsequent rapid implementation of LA-MRSA control measures.

Pre-surgical Nasal Decolonization of Staphylococcus aureus: A Health Technology Assessment.

Background: Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) is the most common cause of surgical site infections, and the nose is the most common site for S. aureus colonization. Pre-surgical (in the days prior to surgery) nasal decolonization of S. aureus may reduce the bacterial load and prevent the organisms from being transferred to the surgical site, thus reducing the risk of surgical site infection. We conducted a health technology assessment of nasal decolonization of S. aureus (including methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains) with or without topical antiseptic body wash to prevent surgical site infection in patients undergoing scheduled surgery, which included an evaluation of effectiveness, safety, cost-effectiveness, the budget impact of publicly funding nasal decolonization of S. aureus, and patient preferences and values. Methods: We performed a systematic literature search of the clinical evidence to retrieve systematic reviews and selected and reported results from one review that was recent, of high quality, and relevant to our research question. We complemented the chosen systematic review with a literature search to identify randomized controlled trials published since the systematic review was published in 2019. We used the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews (ROBIS) tool to assess the risk of bias of each included systematic review and the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool for randomized controlled trials to assess the risk of bias of each included primary study. We assessed the quality of the body of evidence according to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) Working Group criteria. We performed a systematic economic literature search and conducted both cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses using a decision-tree model with a 1-year time horizon from the perspective of Ontario's Ministry of Health. We also analyzed the budget impact of publicly funding nasal decolonization of S. aureus in pre-surgical patients in Ontario. To contextualize the potential value of nasal decolonization, we spoke with people who had recently undergone surgery, some of whom had received nasal decolonization, and one family member of a person who had recently had surgery. We also engaged participants through an online survey. Results: We included one systematic review and three randomized controlled trials in the clinical evidence review. In universal decolonization, compared with placebo or no intervention, nasal mupirocin alone may result in little to no difference in the incidence of overall and S. aureus-related surgical site infections in pre-surgical patients undergoing orthopaedic, cardiothoracic, general, oncologic, gynaecologic, neurologic, or abdominal digestive surgeries, regardless of S. aureus carrier status (GRADE: Moderate to Very low). Compared with placebo, nasal mupirocin alone may result in little to no difference in the incidence of overall and S. aureus-related surgical site infections in pre-surgical patients who are S. aureus carriers undergoing cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopaedic, gastrointestinal, general, oncologic, gynaecologic, or neurologic surgery (GRADE: Moderate to Very low). In targeted decolonization, compared with placebo, nasal mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash lowers the incidence of S. aureus-related surgical site infection (risk ratio: 0.32 [95% confidence interval: 0.16-0.62]) in pre-surgical patients who are S. aureus carriers undergoing cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopaedic, gastrointestinal, or general surgery (GRADE: High). Compared with no intervention, nasal mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash in pre-surgical patients who are not S. aureus carriers undergoing orthopaedic surgery may have little to no effect on overall surgical site infection, but the evidence is very uncertain (GRADE: Very low). Most included studies did not separate methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains of S. aureus. No significant antimicrobial resistance was identified in the evidence reviewed; however, the existing literature was not adequately powered and did not have sufficient follow-up time to evaluate antimicrobial resistance.Our economic evaluation found that universal nasal decolonization using mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash is less costly and more effective than both targeted and no nasal decolonization. Compared with no nasal decolonization treatment, universal and targeted nasal decolonization using mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash would prevent 32 and 22 S. aureus-related surgical site infections, respectively, per 10,000 patients. Universal nasal decolonization would lead to cost savings, whereas targeted nasal decolonization would increase the overall cost for the health care system since patients must first be screened for S. aureus carrier status before receiving nasal decolonization with mupirocin. The annual budget impact of publicly funding universal nasal decolonization in Ontario over the next 5 years ranges from a savings of $2.98 million in year 1 to a savings of $15.09 million in year 5. The annual budget impact of publicly funding targeted nasal decolonization ranges from an additional cost of $0.08 million in year 1 to an additional cost of $0.39 million in year 5.Our interview and survey respondents felt strongly about the value of preventing surgical site infections, and most favoured a universal approach. Conclusions: Based on the best evidence available, decolonization of S. aureus using nasal mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash prior to cardiothoracic, vascular, orthopaedic, gastrointestinal, or general surgery lowers the incidence of surgical site infection caused by S. aureus in patients who are S. aureus carriers (including methicillin-susceptible and methicillin-resistant strains) (i.e., targeted decolonization). However, nasal mupirocin alone may result in little to no difference in overall surgical site infections and S. aureus-related surgical site infections in pre-surgical patients prior to orthopaedic, cardiothoracic, general, oncologic, gynaecologic, neurologic, or abdominal digestive surgeries, regardless of their S. aureus carrier status (i.e., universal decolonization). No significant antimicrobial resistance was identified in the evidence reviewed.Compared with no nasal decolonization treatment, universal nasal decolonization with mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash may reduce S. aureus-related surgical site infections and lead to cost savings. Targeted nasal decolonization with mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash may also reduce S. aureus-related surgical site infections but increase the overall cost of treatment for the health care system. We estimate that publicly funding universal nasal decolonization using mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash would result in a total cost savings of $45.08 million over the next 5 years, whereas publicly funding targeted nasal decolonization using mupirocin combined with chlorhexidine body wash would incur an additional cost of $1.17 million over the next 5 years.People undergoing surgery value treatments aimed at preventing surgical site infections.

Epidemiology, management, and prevention of exit site infections in peritoneal dialysis patients.

Exit site infection (ESI) is a leading complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD), at an incidence of 0.6 episodes per year in the United States, and a major risk factor for catheter removal and peritonitis. An estimated 20% of all peritonitis cases are preceded by an ESI, with up to 50% of Staphylococcus aureus peritonitis associated with ESI. Gram-negative ESIs are less associated with succeeding peritonitis than their gram-positive counterparts, though when present, are associated with a lower peritonitis cure rate. The rate of catheter removal for refractory ESI is relatively highest in ESI due to mycobacteria (up to 40%), S. aureus (35%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (28%), followed by Corynebacterium, Serratia, and fungi. In review of relevant literature, we found no prophylactic benefit of dressings over nondressings, specific antiseptics over normal saline, or topical honey over topical antibiotic prophylaxis, and thus recommend individualized exit site hygiene. We found topical gentamicin effective for prevention of most ESIs, including gram-negative ESIs, and thus recommend consideration of prophylactic topical gentamicin in areas of high gram-negative peritonitis incidence. With long-term use, observational studies detect up to 25% of gram-positive and 14% of gram-negative ESIs may be mupirocin and gentamicin resistant, respectively. We review empiric and targeted ESI management, including indications for ultrasound, anti-VMRSA, anti-Pseudomonal, and anti-mycobacterial antibiotic use, and catheter removal. We recommend further investigation into the earlier use of second-line treatment agents and the utility of treating post-infectious exit site colonization as avenues to decrease refractory and repeat ESI.

Assessment of cleaning methods on bacterial burden of hospital privacy curtains: a pilot randomized controlled trial.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are an important global issue, leading to poor patient outcomes. A potential route of transmission of HAIs is through contact with hospital privacy curtains. The aim of this study is to evaluate cleaning on reduction of curtain bacterial burden. In this pilot cluster randomized controlled trial we compared the bacterial burden between three groups of 24 curtains on a regional burn/plastic surgery ward. A control group was not cleaned. Two groups were cleaned at 3-4 day intervals with either disinfectant spray or wipe. The primary outcome was the difference in mean CFU/cm2 between day 0 to day 21. The secondary outcome was the proportion of curtains contaminated with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). By day 21, the control group was statistically higher (2.2 CFU/cm2) than spray (1.3 CFU/cm2) or wipe (1.5 CFU/cm2) (p < 0.05). After each cleaning at 3-4 day intervals, the bacterial burden on the curtains reduced to near day 0 levels; however, the level increased again over the intervening 3-4 days. By day 21, 64% of control curtains were contaminated with MRSA compared to 10% (spray) and 5% (wipe) (p < 0.05). This study show that curtains start clean and progressively become contaminated with bacteria. Regularly cleaning curtains with disinfectant spray or wipes reduces bacterial burden and MRSA contamination.

Probabilistic modelling of effects of antibiotics and calendar time on transmission of healthcare-associated infection.

Healthcare-associated infection and antimicrobial resistance are major concerns. However, the extent to which antibiotic exposure affects transmission and detection of infections such as MRSA is unclear. Additionally, temporal trends are typically reported in terms of changes in incidence, rather than analysing underling transmission processes. We present a data-augmented Markov chain Monte Carlo approach for inferring changing transmission parameters over time, screening test sensitivity, and the effect of antibiotics on detection and transmission. We expand a basic model to allow use of typing information when inferring sources of infections. Using simulated data, we show that the algorithms are accurate, well-calibrated and able to identify antibiotic effects in sufficiently large datasets. We apply the models to study MRSA transmission in an intensive care unit in Oxford, UK with 7924 admissions over 10 years. We find that falls in MRSA incidence over time were associated with decreases in both the number of patients admitted to the ICU colonised with MRSA and in transmission rates. In our inference model, the data were not informative about the effect of antibiotics on risk of transmission or acquisition of MRSA, a consequence of the limited number of possible transmission events in the data. Our approach has potential to be applied to a range of healthcare-associated infections and settings and could be applied to study the impact of other potential risk factors for transmission. Evidence generated could be used to direct infection control interventions.

Population Pharmacokinetics and Dosing Optimization of Vancomycin in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in pediatric liver transplant (LT) recipients. Physiological changes following LT may affect vancomycin pharmacokinetics; however, appropriate dosing to achieve sufficient drug exposure (i.e., 24-h area under the concentration-time curve [AUC24]/MIC ≥ 400) in pediatric LT recipients has not been reported. This retrospective pharmacokinetics study of LT recipients aged <18 years utilized data on patient characteristics with vancomycin concentrations and dosing information obtained from electronic medical records. Population pharmacokinetics analysis was conducted by nonlinear mixed-effects modeling with the Phoenix NLME software. Potential covariates were screened with univariate and multivariate analysis. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the final model to explore appropriate dosing. The study included 270 pharmacokinetics profiles encompassing 1,158 concentrations measured in 161 patients. The median age was 13.3 (interquartile range, 7.6 to 53.5) months, serum creatinine (sCr) was 0.16 (0.12 to 0.23) mg/dl, and days from LT (DFLT) was 17 (6 to 31). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that lower sCr and shorter DFLT were associated with higher clearance. By post hoc estimation, the average clearance and volume of distribution were 0.18 liters/h/kg and 1.01 liters/kg, respectively. The Monte Carlo simulations revealed that only 16% of patients achieved an AUC24/MIC of ≥400 with the assumed vancomycin MIC of 1 µg/ml. DFLT and sCr were significant covariates for vancomycin clearance in pediatric LT recipients. Standard vancomycin dosing may be insufficient, and higher or more frequent dosing may be required to achieve an AUC24/MIC of ≥400 in pediatric LT recipients with normal renal function. IMPORTANCE We evaluated vancomycin pharmacokinetics in pediatric LT recipients and developed a population pharmacokinetics model by considering various factors that might account for alterations in vancomycin pharmacokinetics. Our analyses revealed that lower serum creatinine levels and a shorter duration from the day of LT were associated with higher vancomycin clearance and led to subtherapeutic drug exposure. We also performed Monte Carlo simulations to determine the appropriate dosing strategy in pediatric LT recipients, which revealed that a standard vancomycin dosing might be insufficient and that higher or more frequent dosing might be necessary to achieve an AUC24/MIC of ≥400 in pediatric LT recipients with normal renal function. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to assess vancomycin pharmacokinetics in pediatric LT recipients by population pharmacokinetics analysis.

Development and piloting of a prevention assessment and response tool for healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (the SAB-PART Study) using a Delphi method.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection (HA-SAB) causes preventable harm in hospitalized patients. Currently, there is no standardized method available to review HA-SAB events in order to identify and target preventable risks requiring action at an organizational level. AIM: To develop a tool to classify SAB events, and the necessary response actions, according to the degree of preventability. METHODS: Following a literature review, a tool was developed. Consensus feedback and development of the tool was sought from experts (N = 11) in healthcare-associated infection surveillance using a Delphi technique. The completed tool was retrospectively applied to HA-SAB events (N = 43) that occurred at a large healthcare organization. FINDINGS: Survey completion rates were high (91-100%). Clinicians' poor adherence to infection prevention practices and lack of engagement with feedback processes was established as the key modifiable element. A second key theme was the need for structured and detailed response actions. This feedback was incorporated into the tool and refined until consensus on all elements was achieved. Pilot application of the tool found that 56% of HA-SAB events were highly or possibly preventable; modifiable factors for HA-SAB prevention were not present in the remainder of cases. CONCLUSION: A prevention assessment and response tool was successfully developed via a consensus method to assist organizations in investigating and responding to individual cases of HA-SAB and identify future priority areas for SAB reduction strategies. Wider use of the tool with routine surveillance activities is required to evaluate impact upon infection prevention programmes and patient outcomes.

What is the most cost-effective strategy for nasal screening and Staphylococcus aureus decolonization in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty?

BACKGROUND: To reduce periprosthetic joint infection after total hip arthroplasty (THA), several nasal screening and decolonization strategies for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) have been performed. These include universal decolonization (UD; i.e., no screening and decolonization for all patients), universal screening and target decolonization (US; i.e., screening for all patients and decolonization for bacterial positive patients), and target screening and decolonization (TS; i.e., screening and decolonization for high-risk populations only). Although TS is the most cost-effective strategy, useful risk factors must be identified. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the presence of predictive factors that enable the TS strategy to be successfully implemented and to compare the costs of each strategy. METHODS: A total of 1654 patients scheduled for primary or revision THA (1464 female, 190 male; mean age 64 years) were screened prior to surgery for bacterial colonization of the nasal mucosa. Risk factors for positive MRSA and S. aureus (including both MRSA and MSSA) tests were analyzed according to the following parameters: sex, age ≥ 80 years, body mass index ≥ 30 kg/m2, antibiotic use within 3 years, corticosteroid use, serum albumin < 3.5 g/dL, glomerular filtration rate < 50 mL/min, presence of brain, thyroid, cardiac, or pulmonary disease, diabetes, asthma, smoking status, and whether revision surgery was performed. The average cost of each strategy was calculated. RESULTS: In total, 29 patients (1.8 %) tested positive for MRSA and 445 (26.9 %) tested positive for S. aureus. No parameters were identified as independent risk factors for MRSA and only female sex was identified as a risk factor for S. aureus (p = 0.003; odds ratio: 1.790; 95 % confidence interval: 1.210-2.640). The average cost of each strategy was 1928.3 yen for UD, 717.6 yen for US, and 717.6 yen for TS (for eradicating MRSA), and 1928.3 yen for UD, 1201.6 yen for US, and 1160.4 yen for TS (for eradicating S. aureus). CONCLUSIONS: No useful predictive parameters for implementing the TS strategy were identified. Based on cost implications, US is the most cost-effective strategy for THA patients.

Using a Data-Driven Improvement Methodology to Decrease Surgical Site Infections in a Community Neurosurgery Practice: Optimizing Preoperative Screening and Perioperative Antibiotics.

OBJECTIVE: We used a data-driven methodology to decrease the departmental surgical site infection rate to a goal of 1%. METHODS: A prospective interventional study with historical controls comparing preimplementation/intervention (unknown methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus [MSSA]/methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] status and standard weight and drug allergy-based preoperative antibiotics) with postimplementation/intervention (optimized preoperative chlorhexidine showers, MSSA/MRSA screening, MSSA/MRSA decolonization, and optimized preoperative antibiotic order set implementation). The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program was used for case surveillance. The primary outcome was the presence of a surgical site infection with a secondary outcome of cost(s) of implementation. RESULTS: A total of 317 National Surgical Quality Improvement Program abstracted neurosurgical cases were analyzed, 163 cases before implementation and 154 cases after implementation. There were no significant differences between the preimplementation and postimplementation cohorts regarding patient demographics and baseline comorbidities, with the exceptions of inpatient and functional status (P < 0.001). The most common procedures were lumbar decompression (31%), lumbar discectomy (27%), and anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (10.4%). After implementation, 30 patients were MSSA positive (20%) and 4 MRSA positive (2.6%). Thirty patients received preoperative intranasal mupirocin decolonization (88%), and 4 patients received adjusted preoperative antibiotics (12%). After protocol implementation, the surgical site infection rate decreased from 6.7% (odds ratio, 2.82) to 0.96% (odds ratio, 0.91). The cost of implementation was $27,179, or $58 per patient. CONCLUSIONS: The findings highlight the importance of systematically investigating areas of gap in existing clinical practice and quality improvement projects to increase patient safety and enhance the value of care delivered to neurosurgical patients.

Expanding an Economic Evaluation of the Veterans Affairs (VA) Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Prevention Initiative to Include Prevention of Infections From Other Pathogens.

BACKGROUND: In October 2007, Veterans Affairs (VA) launched a nationwide effort to reduce methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) transmission called the National MRSA Prevention Initiative. Although the initiative focused on MRSA, recent evidence suggests that it also led to a significant decrease in hospital-onset (HO) gram-negative rod (GNR) bacteremia, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), and Clostridioides difficile infections. The objective of this analysis was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness and the budget impact of the initiative taking into account MRSA, GNR, VRE, and C. difficile infections. METHODS: We developed an economic model using published data on the rate of MRSA hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and HO-GNR bacteremia in the VA from October 2007 to September 2015, estimates of the attributable cost and mortality of these infections, and the costs associated with the intervention obtained through a microcosting approach. We explored several different assumptions for the rate of infections that would have occurred if the initiative had not been implemented. Effectiveness was measured in life-years (LYs) gained. RESULTS: We found that during fiscal years 2008-2015, the initiative resulted in an estimated 4761-9236 fewer MRSA HAIs, 1447-2159 fewer HO-GNR bacteremia, 3083-3602 fewer C. difficile infections, and 2075-5393 fewer VRE infections. The initiative itself was estimated to cost $561 million over this 8-year period, whereas the cost savings from prevented MRSA HAIs ranged from $165 to $315 million and from prevented HO-GNR bacteremia, CRE and C. difficile infections ranged from $174 to $200 million. The incremental cost-effectiveness of the initiative ranged from $12 146 to $38 673/LY when just including MRSA HAIs and from $1354 to $4369/LY when including the additional pathogens. The overall impact on the VA's budget ranged from $67 to$195 million. CONCLUSIONS: An MRSA surveillance and prevention strategy in VA may have prevented a substantial number of infections from MRSA and other organisms. The net increase in cost from implementing this strategy was quite small when considering infections from all types of organisms. Including spillover effects of organism-specific prevention efforts onto other organisms can provide a more comprehensive evaluation of the costs and benefits of these interventions.

Evaluating the economic effects of genomic sequencing of pathogens to prioritise hospital patients competing for isolation beds.

Objective This study compared the costs and patient movements of a new hospital protocol to discontinue contact precautions for patients with non-multiresistant methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (nmMRSA), based on whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of pathogens with current practice. Methods A hybrid simulation model was constructed and analysed over a 12-month time horizon. Six multidrug-resistant organisms and influenza were modelled concurrently where infected patients competed for isolation beds. Model inputs included pathogen incidence, resources for WGS, staff and contact precautions, hospital processes, room allocations and their associated costs. Data were sourced from aggregated records of patient admissions during 2017-18, clinical records and published reports. Results The WGS protocol resulted in 389 patients isolated (44% of current practice), 5223 'isolation bed days' (56%) and 268 closed-bed days (88%). Over 1 year, the mean (±s.d.) total cost for the WGS protocol was A$749243±126667; compared with current practice, the overall cost savings were A$690864±300464. Conclusion Using WGS to inform infection control teams of pathogen transmission averts patients from isolation rooms and reduces significant resources involved in implementing contact precautions. What is known about the topic? There are an estimated 265000 hospital-acquired infections (HAI) in Australia each year. WGS can accurately identify the genetic lineage among HAIs and determine transmission clusters that can help infection control staff manage patients. Economic appraisals are lacking to inform whether pathogen genomics services should be adopted within already-stretched hospital budgets. What does this paper add? An isolation protocol using pathogen genomics to provide additional information on the relatedness of a pathogen between colonised patients showed favourable results for healthcare costs and patient flow. Using WGS, in a confirmatory role, to discontinue certain patients from contact precautions and isolation rooms resulted in cost savings of A$690864 across 1 year for a single major hospital. What are the implications for practitioners? Using pathogen WGS services for infection control potentially curbs hospital spending, averts patient isolations and improves patient flow within hospitals.

Device associated -health care associated infections monitoring, prevention and cost assessment at intensive care unit of University Hospital in Poland (2015-2017).

BACKGROUND: Device-associated health care-associated infections (DA-HAIs) in intensive care unit (ICU) patients constitute a major therapeutic issue complicating the regular hospitalisation process and having influence on patients' condition, length of hospitalisation, mortality and therapy cost. METHODS: The study involved all patients treated > 48 h at ICU of the Medical University Teaching Hospital (Poland) from 1.01.2015 to 31.12.2017. The study showed the surveillance and prevention of DA-HAIs on International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Surveillance Online System (ISOS) 3 online platform according to methodology of the INICC multidimensional approach (IMA). RESULTS: During study period 252 HAIs were found in 1353 (549F/804M) patients and 14,700 patient-days of hospitalisation. The crude infections rate and incidence density of DA-HAIs was 18.69% and 17.49 ± 2.56 /1000 patient-days. Incidence density of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLA-BSI) and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CA-UTI) per 1000 device-days were 12.63 ± 1.49, 1.83 ± 0.65 and 6.5 ± 1.2, respectively. VAP(137) constituted 54.4% of HAIs, whereas CA-UTI(91) 36%, CLA-BSI(24) 9.6%.The most common pathogens in VAP and CA-UTI was multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii (57 and 31%), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE) in CLA-BSI (45%). MDR Gram negative bacteria (GNB) 159 were responsible for 63.09% of HAIs. The length of hospitalisation of patients with a single DA-HAI at ICU was 21(14-33) days, while without infections it was 6.0 (3-11) days; p = 0.0001. The mortality rates in the hospital-acquired infection group and no infection group were 26.1% vs 26.9%; p = 0.838; OR 0.9633;95% CI (0.6733-1.3782). Extra cost of therapy caused by one ICU acquired HAI was US$ 11,475/Euro 10,035. Hand hygiene standards compliance rate was 64.7%, while VAP, CLA-BSI bundles compliance ranges were 96.2-76.8 and 29-100, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: DA-HAIs was diagnosed at nearly 1/5 of patients. They were more frequent than in European Centre Disease Control report (except for CLA-BSI), more frequent than the USA CDC report, yet less frequent than in limited-resource countries (except for CA-UTI). They prolonged the hospitalisation period at ICU and generated substantial additional costs of treatment with no influence on mortality. The Acinetobacter baumannii MDR infections were the most problematic therapeutic issue. DA-HAIs preventive methods compliance rate needs improvement.

A simulation study to investigate the added value in using differential somatic cell count as an additional indicator for udder health management in dairy herds.

Mastitis is one of the most costly diseases in dairy herds worldwide. Somatic cell count (SCC) is widely used as an indicator for subclinical intramammary infections (IMI) that may eventually cause mastitis in dairy herds. Differential somatic cell count (DSCC) has recently been introduced as an additional indicator for IMI. The objective of this study was to investigate the value of using DSCC as an additional indicator to select cows for testing and subsequent intervention for subclinical mastitis during the lactation. We parameterized an existing bio-economic simulation model for dairy herds to include DSCC. Then, we simulated three Danish dairy cattle herd situations with different pathogen distributions where the main pathogens were 1) Staphylococcus aureus, 2) Streptococcus agalactiae, and 3) Streptococcus uberis. In these herds, we simulated two different selection strategies for testing (bacterial culture) for subclinical IMI and various intervention strategies for test positive cases. The first selection strategy considered only SCC; cows were selected for testing if they had a low SCC measurement followed by two high SCC measurements. In the second selection strategy, cows additionally had to have a high DSCC measurement. Results showed that both selection strategies led to a similar net income and to a similar number of clinical and subclinical cases for all investigated intervention strategies. However, when using DSCC in the selection of animals, the number of treatment days and the number of cows culled in relation to IMI was reduced: The median annual number of treatment days was reduced by 25-38 days in herd 1, by 25-42 days in herd 2, and by 30-48 days in herd 3, depending on the intervention strategy. The median annual number of cows culled in relation to IMI was reduced by up to 8 cows (10 cows in herd 3) for one of the intervention strategies. Subject to limitations associated with model assumptions, these results suggest that considering DSCC when selecting cows for testing can reduce IMI related culling and the use of antibiotics without changing in-herd prevalence nor resulting in economic loss.

Assessment of periprosthetic joint infection prevention methods amongst Turkish orthopedic surgeons in total joint replacement: A survey.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to assess the methods employed by Turkish orthopedic surgeons to prevent periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) in total joint arthroplasty (TJA). PATIENTS AND METHODS: The data obtained for this study, conducted between January 2019 and February 2019, were gathered by sending out an online survey to Turkish Society of Orthopedics and Traumatology members (n=2,267). A total of 354 orthopedic surgeons responded and completed survey. The survey had 23 questions which include the experience, academic position, hospital where the physician works, monthly arthroplasty numbers, and infection prevention methods employed before, during, and after surgery. RESULTS: The period for antibiotics prophylaxis showed variability, with about 63% of surgeons using prophylaxis longer than 24 hours. In terms of academic position, 52.4% of professors and 52.8% of associate professors used prophylaxis for the first 24 hours whereas this rate was 31.3% in operators (p=0.01). Of surgeons, 50.7% who perform more than 10 arthroplasties per month and 33.6% of surgeons who perform less than 11 arthroplasties per month used 24-hour antibiotic prophylaxis (p=0.006). Blood glucose level assessment prior to surgery was performed by the majority of surgeons (94%). A total of 118 orthopedic surgeons (33.3%) performed methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) decolonization with 54.7% of associate professors, 59.5% of professors, and 24.7% of operators (p=0.001). Only 60 surgeons (16.9%) checked vitamin D levels. CONCLUSION: Our study results demonstrated that the majority of orthopedic surgeons in Turkey do not follow the antibiotic prophylaxis recommendations and they use antibiotic prophylaxis for longer periods. Professors and associate professors, and surgeons with higher monthly arthroplasty numbers than surgeons with lower monthly arthroplasty numbers follow the recommended periods more than their counterparts. Most surgeons assess blood glucose levels whereas a small number of surgeons perform MRSA decolonization and check vitamin D levels.

The economic benefits of surgical site infection prevention in adults: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Surgical site infections (SSIs) present a significant burden to healthcare and patients in terms of excess length of stay, distress, disability and death. SSI risk and the associated economic burden may be reduced through adherence to prevention guidelines although the irreducible minimum is unclear. AIM: To evaluate the methods used to estimate the cost-effectiveness of prevention strategies for all SSIs. METHODS: PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and UK National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched from inception to January 2020 to identify English language economic evaluation studies, embedded economic evaluations, and studies with some analysis in relation to cost and benefit in adult patients receiving surgical care in any setting. Risk of bias was assessed using two published checklists. FINDINGS: Thirty-two studies involving 24,043 participants were included. Most studies evaluated SSI prevention in orthopaedic surgeries. Antibiotic prophylaxis, screening, treating, or decolonization of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and surgical wound closure were the main methods evaluated. Methods ranged from cost-analyses to cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analyses. Synthesis of results was not possible due to heterogeneity. All studies reported some economic benefit associated with preventing SSI; however, measures of benefit were not reported consistently and the quality of studies was low to moderate. Limited evidence in relation to SSI impact on quality of life was identified. CONCLUSION: Current evidence in relation to the economic benefits of SSI prevention is limited. Further robust studies that utilize sound economic and epidemiological methods are required to inform future investment decisions in SSI prevention.

Costs and Benefits of Alternative Strategies to Control the Spread of Livestock-Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus From Pig Production.

BACKGROUND: Livestock-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (LA-MRSA) is a concern in healthcare and a political priority in some countries. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the net societal costs of 2 alternative strategies for controlling LA-MRSA in Denmark: (1) eradicating LA-MRSA in all pig housing units, and (2) containing LA-MRSA within the units. METHODS: Benefits and costs are considered for affected economic sectors: healthcare, pig production, pig-related industries, and public administration. RESULTS: The cost to society of eradication is estimated at €2.3 to €2.5 billion (present value). Containment will cost €55 to €93 million. For both strategies, the main cost lies in primary pig production-for containment this is mainly due to establishing and operating anterooms and shower rooms, and for eradication it is due to production losses, loss of genetic resources, and costs of cleaning and disinfection. CONCLUSION: Compared with these costs, health economic benefits are moderate for both strategies. Containment is superior to eradication when measured by a benefit-cost ratio.

Impact of infection control measures on the related costs and the amount of broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents used in a hospital: A time-series analysis.

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) worsen patient prognoses and increase medical costs. Antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), which involves appropriate use of antimicrobial agents and antiseptics, may be beneficial for addressing the issue of HAIs. In hospitals, an infection control team (ICT) plays an important role on the appropriate use of antimicrobial agents and antiseptics based on AMS. We aimed to conduct a time-series analysis of the efficacies of infection control measures in terms of related costs, amount of broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents used (carbapenems and quinolones), and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) detection rates. This retrospective cross-sectional study included in-hospital patients treated at a single institute between January 2012 and December 2015. The intervention start point (initiation of infection control measures) was January 2014. All survey items were subjected to segmented regression analysis using an autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) model. Differences between pre-intervention and postintervention levels and their trends were assessed, using a statistical significance cutoff of P < .05. The infection control costs demonstrated a significantly increasing trend, despite significant decreases in the amount of carbapenems used. Accordingly, the implementation of infection control measures was associated with increased costs, whereas carbapenem use decreased immediately after intervention. Postintervention levels, trends of quinolone use, or MRSA detection rates did not reveal significant changes. Although implementation of infection control measures induced gradual increases in related costs, these measures led to immediate reductions in carbapenem use. Our study findings will support the establishment of more effective and economical infection control measures.

Comparative Effectiveness of Local Application of Chlorhexidine Gluconate, Mupirocin Ointment, and Normal Saline for the Prevention of Peritoneal Dialysis-related Infections (COSMO-PD Trial): a multicenter randomized, double-blind, controlled protocol.

BACKGROUND: Current international guidelines recommend the use of a daily topical exit-site antimicrobial to prevent peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related infections. Although nonantibiotic-based therapies are appealing because they may limit antimicrobial resistance, no controlled trials have been conducted to compare topical antimicrobial agents with usual exit-site care for the prevention of PD-related infections among the Thai PD population. We propose a controlled three-arm trial to examine the efficacy and safety of a daily chlorhexidine gluconate-impregnated patch versus mupirocin ointment versus usual exit-site care with normal saline for the prevention of PD-related infections. METHODS/DESIGNS: This study is a randomized, double-blind, multicenter, active-controlled, clinical trial. Adult patients aged 18 years or older who have end-stage kidney disease and are undergoing PD will be enrolled at three PD Centers in Thailand. A total of 354 PD patients will be randomly assigned to either the 2% chlorhexidine gluconate-impregnated patch, mupirocin ointment, or usual exit-site care with normal saline dressing according to a computer-generated random allocation sequence. Participants will be followed until discontinuation of PD or completion of 24 months. The primary study outcomes are time to first PD-related infection (exit-site/tunnel infection or peritonitis) event and the overall difference in PD-related infection rates between study arms. Secondary study outcomes will include (i) the rate of infection-related catheter removal and PD technique failure, (ii) rate of nasal and exit-site Staphylococcus aureus colonization, (iii) healthcare costs, and (iv) skin reactions and adverse events. We plan to conduct a cost-utility analysis alongside the trial from the perspectives of patients and society. A Markov simulation model will be used to estimate the total cost and health outcome in terms of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) over a 20-year time horizon. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio in Thai Baht and U.S. dollars per QALYs gained will be illustrated. A series of probabilistic sensitivity analyses will be conducted to assess the robustness of the cost-utility analysis findings. DISCUSSION: The results from this study will provide new clinical and cost-effectiveness evidence to support the best strategy for the prevention of PD-related infections among the Thai PD population. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02547103. Registered on September 11, 2015.