Effect Analysis of "Four-Step" Training and Assessment Tool in the Prevention and Control of COVID-19.

Purpose: To improve the ability of infection prevention and control (IPC) of medical staff during the COVID-19 epidemic period, the "four-step" mode of whole staff training and assessment was used. Methods: During the period from March 9 to March 18, 2020, 5425 medical staff from The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University were selected as the objects of this study. There are four stages in the training assessment mode. The first stage is the basic assessment stage; the second stage releases the electronic version of the knowledge point manual; the third stage conducts online exercises; the fourth stage conducts the final assessment. Results: In the first stage, the participation rate of medical staff was 95.04%. In the fourth stage, the participation rate of medical staff was 98.01%. The average score of female medical staff in the first stage and the fourth stage was higher than that of males (P< 0.001). The average score of medical staff under 30 years old in the first stage and the fourth stage was higher than that of other age groups (P< 0.05). In the fourth stage, the correct rate of each part of exercises in the knowledge points of IPC was higher than that in the first stage (P< 0.001). In the two stages, the two parts of "COVID-19 prevention and control" and "multi-drug resistant bacteria prevention and control" had the highest accuracy, while the "disinfection and sterilization" and "infectious disease management" had the lowest accuracy (P< 0.001). Conclusion: The "four-step" infection control training assessment mode has realized "full participation" and "effective training", and the level of medical staff's IPC has been significantly improved.

Hospital expenses of nosocomial infection associated with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation in China: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a highly invasive procedure and a high-cost medical measure, but the economic impact of nosocomial infection after ECMO support remains largely uninvestigated. METHODS: We constructed a retrospective cohort of all patients hospitalized at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from 2013 to 2020 who had ECMO supported clinical samples. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to control the impact of potential confounding variables, including demographics, commodities, and treatment, and to estimate the economic burden of nosocomial infection after ECMO support. RESULTS: There were 194 patients with ECMO support, 136 patients had no infection after ECMO, 38 patients had infection after ECMO, of which 97.4% was lower respiratory tract infection. Compared with patients among ECMO non infection group, the main reasons for ECMO treatment of patients among ECMO infection group were supportive treatment of cardiac dysfunction (63.16% vs. 42.31%, P=0.021) and longer use of catheter (13.74±14.97 vs. 15.97±14.33 days, P=0.034). The total hospital expenses for patients among ECMO infection group and ECMO non infection group were about $55,878 and $51,277 respectively. Patients with ECMO infection had significantly higher radiate expenses, operational expenses and anesthetic expenses than those among ECMO non infection group ($119.06 vs. $69.32, P=0.025; $6,458.81 vs. $4,882.49, P=0.034; $331.62 vs. $145.56, P=0.030). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that the incidence of nosocomial infection after ECMO support was relatively high, which did not lead to high total hospital expenses, but lead to higher radiate expenses, operational expenses and anesthetic expenses.

Evaluation of manual and electronic healthcare-associated infections surveillance: a multi-center study with 21 tertiary general hospitals in China.

BACKGROUND: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are still a major health threats worldwide. Traditional surveillance methods involving manual surveillance by infection control practitioners (ICPs) for data collection processes are laborious, inefficient, and generate data of variable quality. In this study, we sought to evaluate the impact of surveillance and interaction platform system (SIPS) for HAIs surveillance compared to manual survey in tertiary general hospitals. METHODS: A large multi-center study including 21 tertiary general hospitals and 63 wards were performed to evaluate the impact of electronic SIPS for HAIs. RESULTS: We collected 4,098 consecutive patients and found that the hospitals installed with SIPS significantly increased work efficiency of ICPs achieving satisfactory diagnostic performance of HAIs with 0.73 for sensitivity, 0.81 for specificity and 0.81 area under the curve (AUC). However, there were significant heterogeneity own to regions, time of SIPS installation, departments and sample size. CONCLUSIONS: SIPS significantly improved ICPs efficiency and HAIs monitoring effectiveness, but there were shortcomings such as untimely maintenance and high cost.

Novel risk factors for the healthcare associated infections (HAIs) in patients with Stanford type A aortic dissection (TAAD).

BACKGROUND: Risk factors for healthcare associated infections (HAIs) following surgical repair of acute type A aortic dissection (TAAD) has not been well defined. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of patients treated between Jan 2013 and May 2016 at the large tertiary teaching hospital in Jiangsu, China. Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association patients with acute TAAD who underwent ascending aortic and arch replacement under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest (DHCA) and healthcare associated infections during hospitalization. RESULTS: Of the final 210 patients with aortic dissection (AD) admitted to our hospital, 100 patients had TAAD (100/210, 47.62%), which were then allocated to the HAIs group (n=36) and Non-HAIs group (n=64). We found that DCHA >29 min [odds ratio (OR) =2.60, 95% confidential interval (CI), 1.01-6.80, P=0.048], preoperative PLT <171×109/L (OR =3.62; 95% CI, 1.33-9.79; P=0.011) and D-dimer >4.25 mg/L (OR =2.83; 95% CI, 1.07-7.47; P=0.035) were independently associated with the occurrence of HAIs for the patients with TAAD following surgical repair. Hosmer-Lemeshow statistic of the model suggested perfect model discrimination from a perfect fit (χ2=4.77, P=0.6883). Logistic model was verified when the area under receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was equal to 0.7665. CONCLUSIONS: TAAD patients with longer DHCA time, lower preoperative PLT, higher serum D-dimer would significantly increase the risks after surgical repair of arch replacement.

A Bis(methylpiperazinylstyryl)phenanthroline as a Fluorescent Ligand for G-Quadruplexes.

G-quadruplex (G4)-forming sequences are prevalent in the genome and are considered to play important roles in gene regulation, and hence have been viewed as potential therapeutic targets in oncology. However, the structures and functions of most G4s in the genome are poorly understood. Therefore, the development of fluorescent probes and ligands for G4s is important for G4 research and drug discovery. Herein, we report a new G4 ligand, 2,9-bis[4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)styryl]-1,10-phenanthroline (BMSP), which was synthesized by a simple process. BMSP exhibits almost no fluorescence in aqueous buffer. The interaction of BMSP with G4s greatly enhances its fluorescence with a large Stokes' shift of 160 nm. Antiparallel human telomeric G4s exhibit the strongest binding affinity (Kd ≈0.13 µm) to BMSP and induce a fluorescence enhancement of up to 150-fold. BMSP binds to G4s through π-π stacking on the terminal G-quartets. BMSP can enter live cells, and it strongly inhibits the growth of cancer cells rather than causing cell death. Our results suggest that BMSP has the potential to serve both as a fluorescent probe for some G4s and as a chemotherapeutic agent for cancer treatment.

Impact of daily bathing with chlorhexidine gluconate on ventilator associated pneumonia in intensive care units: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) is the most important nosocomial infection in intensive care units (ICUs). Our objective was to assess whether daily bathing with chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) would significantly result in the reduction of VAP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-experimental studies were conducted. The setting are medical, surgical, trauma, and combined medical-surgical ICUs. The patients are adult. We searched electronic search engine (PubMed), Embase and the Cochrane Central Register database for all published studies related to the application of daily CHG bathing with VAP risk. RESULTS: In all, six articles reporting a total of 27,638 ventilator-days met the inclusion criteria; 132 patients in the CHG arm developed a VAP (13,349 ventilator-days), compared with 188 patients in the control arm (14,289 ventilator-days). Daily bathing with CHG was significantly associated with decreased incidence risk of VAP [relative risk (RR): 0.73, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.57-0.92, I(2)=0%]. In the subgroup analysis, we found that daily bathing with 2% CHG impregnated cloths or wipes would reduce the incidence risk of VAP among before-and-after studies (pooled RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.57-0.93). CONCLUSIONS: The application of daily bathing with CHG would decrease incidence risk of VAP, which would be an important complementary intervention to barrier precautions.

[Multivariate analysis on the association between acquired multi-drug resistant organism infection and ventilator-associated pneumonia:evidence from a nested case-control study of eight ICUs].

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the association between acquired multi-drug resistant organism (MDRO) and ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients hospitalized at the intensive care unit(ICU). METHODS: Real-time monitoring system for hospital infection was used to track VAP patients. The period of study was from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013. Both a nested case-control study design and logistic multivariable regression model were performed to explore the association. RESULTS: A total of 142 VAP cases and 342 non-VAP controls were available in this study. Duration of Hospital stay, ICU stay and mechanical days were statistically significant between the case and the control group (P≤0.001). Compared with MDRO negative patient, the MDRO colonization or infection patients showed an 3.05-time increase on the risk of VAP (adjusted OR = 4.05, 95% CI:2.51-5.46). Remarkably,MDRO-positive patients were significantly associated with increased duration of mechanical ventilation and antimicrobial drug use (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: MDRO colonized and infection patients would significantly increase the risks of VAP, with prolonged hospitalization and ICU stay. Effective measures should be taken to promote and control patient's safety at the hospital.

Effects of daily bathing with chlorhexidine and acquired infection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus: a meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: Chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) is a common and safe antimicrobial agent and has been used widely in hand hygiene and skin disinfection; however, whether daily bathing with CHG results in the reduced acquired infection of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) remains inconclusive. METHODS: We did a meta-analysis searching PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Central Register database for available studies. Primary outcomes were acquired infection of MRSA, VRE. RESULTS: In all, twelve articles were available in this review. We found that daily application of chlorhexidine bathing would significantly low the acquired colonization of MRSA [incidence rate ratio (IRR) =0.58, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.41-0.82] or VRE (IRR =0.51, 95% CI: 0.36-0.73). Remarkably, the using of CHG bathing would significantly reduce the MRSA infection (IRR =0.56, 95% CI: 0.37-0.85), MRSA ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) (IRR =0.22, 95% CI: 0.07-0.64) and VRE infection (IRR =0.57, 95% CI: 0.33-0.97). No significant publication bias was found in this meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The application of CHG bathing would significantly decrease acquired infection of MRSA or VRE, which may be an important complementary intervention to barrier precautions.

Risk factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia in pediatric intensive care unit: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To identify risk factors of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). METHODS: PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library and references of retrieved articles were searched without language limitation. Pooled odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated by using both the Mantel-Haenszel fixed-effect and the DerSimonian-Laird random-effects models. RESULTS: Out of the 205 initially retrieved articles, 9 papers were included. All 4,564 patients were enrolled, including 213 patients with VAP and 4,351 patients without VAP. Among fourteen risk factors, six factors had statistical significances. Risk factors of VAP and its value of OR were as follows: genetic syndrome (OR =2.04; 95% CI: 1.08-3.86), steroids (OR =1.87; 95% CI: 1.07-3.27), reintubation or self-extubation (OR =3.16; 95% CI: 2.10-4.74), bloodstream infection (OR =4.42; 95% CI: 2.12-9.22), prior antibiotic therapy (OR =2.89; 95% CI: 1.41-5.94), bronchoscopy (OR =4.48; 95% CI: 2.31-8.71). CONCLUSIONS: Special methods of preventions should be taken in the light of risk factors of VAP in PICU so as to decrease the rate.