A Practical Tool for Surveillance of Surgical-Site Infections: A 5-Year Experience in Orthopedic Surgeries.

Continuous surveillance of surgical-site infection (SSI) is labor intensive. We developed a semiautomatic surveillance system partly assisted by surgeons. Most patients who developed postdischarge SSI were readmitted, which allowed us to limit postdischarge surveillance to this group. This procedure significantly reduced workload while maintaining high sensitivity and specificity for SSI diagnosis. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:610-613.

Continuous surveillance to reduce extended-spectrum ß-lactamase Klebsiella pneumoniae colonization in the neonatal intensive care unit.

BACKGROUND: Clinical illness caused by resistant bacteria usually represents a wider problem of asymptomatic colonization. Active surveillance with appropriate institution of isolation precautions represents a potential mechanism to control colonization and reduce infection. The neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is an environment particularly appropriate for such interventions. Neonates are rarely colonized by resistant bacteria on admission and staff enthusiasm for infection control is high. OBJECTIVE: To reduce extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae (ESBL-KP) acquisition amongst neonates through a continuous active surveillance intervention. METHODS: Fecal ESBL-KP cultures were performed weekly on all neonates over 4 years. Neonates with positive cultures were managed with contact precautions by dedicated nurses separately from other neonates. ESBL-KP acquisition amongst neonates staying >7 days was compared for the consecutive years. A subset of ESBL-KP isolates was typed with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE). RESULTS: Surveillance cultures were obtained from 1,482/1,763 (84%) neonates over 4 years. ESBL-KP acquisition decreased continuously from 94/397 (24%) neonates in 2006 to 33/304 (11%) in 2009 (p < 0.001, hazard ratio 0.75, 95% confidence interval 0.66-0.85, p < 0.001 for comparison of years). Hospital-wide ESBL-KP acquisition did not decrease outside the NICU. PFGE identified identical ESBL-KP strains from multiple neonates on six occasions and different strains from single neonates on seven occasions. CONCLUSIONS: ESBL-KP is probably both imported into and spread within the NICU. Continuous long-term surveillance with cohorting was associated with a decrease in ESBL-KP acquisition within the NICU. This low-risk intervention should be considered as a means to decrease neonatal acquisition of resistant bacteria.

Acquisition of vancomycin-resistant enterococci in internal medicine wards.

BACKGROUND: Our institution experienced an increase in the frequency of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) clinical isolates, which rose 5-fold from 2004 to 2005. We sought to measure the prevalence of VRE carriage among medical inpatients in a tertiary hospital in Jerusalem and estimate the rate of acquisition during hospitalization. METHODS: During 2006, we performed 3 cross-sectional surveys, including 1039 patients, representing 3 phases of hospitalization: admission, hospital stay, and discharge. Perianal/stool samples were cultured for VRE. RESULTS: VRE carriage was 3.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.8% to 6.9%) on admission, 15% (95% CI = 9% to 23%) at discharge, and 32% (95% CI = 24% to 40%) among inpatients. Among inpatient carriers, 60% of the isolates represented a single strain. Recent previous hospitalization was the most significant predictor for identifying carriers on admission. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that substantial VRE transmission occurred during hospitalization. Identification of carriers on admission should supplement effective application of infection control methods in attempting to decrease VRE nosocomial spread and burden.