Pre-operative skin preparation practices: results of the 2007 French national assessment.

BACKGROUND: Pre-operative skin preparation, aimed at reducing the endogenous microbial flora, is one of the main preventive measures employed to decrease the likelihood of surgical site infection. National recommendations on pre-operative management of infection risks were issued in France in 2004. AIM: To assess compliance with the French national guidelines for pre-operative skin preparation in 2007. METHODS: A prospective audit was undertaken in French hospitals through interviews with patients and staff, and observation of professional practice. Compliance with five major criteria selected from the guidelines was studied: patient information, pre-operative showering, pre-operative hair removal, surgical site disinfection and documentation of these procedures. FINDINGS: Data for 41,188 patients from all specialties at 609 facilities were analysed. Patients were issued with information about pre-operative showering in 88.2% of cases [95% confidence interval (CI) 87.9-88.5]. The recommended procedure for pre-operative showering, including hairwashing, with an antiseptic skin wash solution was followed by 70.3% of patients (95% CI 69.9-70.8); this percentage was higher when patients had received appropriate information (P < 0.001). Compliance with hair removal procedures was observed in 91.5% of cases (95% CI 91.2-91.8), and compliance with surgical site disinfection recommendations was observed in 25,529 cases (62.0%, 95% CI 61.5-62.5). The following documentary evidence was found: information given to patient, 35.6% of cases; pre-operative surgical hygiene, 82.3% of cases; and pre-operative site disinfection, 71.7% of cases. CONCLUSION: The essential content of the French guidelines seems to be understood, but reminders need to be issued. Some recommendations may need to be adapted for certain specialties.

[Non-tuberculous mycobacterial infections related to esthetic care in France, 2001-2010]. / Infections à mycobactéries atypiques liées à des soins esthétiques en France, 2001-2010.

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infections usually occur in immunocompromised patients but also in immunocompetent patients following invasive procedures, especially for esthetic purposes. Since 2001, 20 episodes (57 cases) of NTM infections, seven of which (43 cases) were related to esthetic care, have been reported to the regional infection control coordinating centers (RICCC), the local health authorities (LHA), and the national institute for public health surveillance. Four notifications (40 cases) were related to non-surgical procedures performed by general practitioners in private settings: mesotherapy, carboxytherapy, and sclerosis of microvaricosities. The three other notifications (three cases) concerned surgical procedures-lifting and mammary prosthesis. Practice evaluations performed by the RICCC and LHA for five notifications showed deficiency of standard hygiene precautions and tap water misuse for injection equipment cleaning, or skin disinfection. Microbiological investigations (national reference center for mycobacteria) demonstrated the similarity of patient and environmental strains: in one episode (16 cases after mesotherapy), M. chelonae isolated from tap water was similar to those isolated from 11 cases. Healthcare-associated NTM infections are rare but have a potentially severe outcome. These cases stress the need of healthcare-associated infection notifications in outpatient settings.

Control of a multi-hospital outbreak of KPC-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae type 2 in France, September to October 2009.

An outbreak of Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae type 2 was detected in September 2009 in two hospitals in a suburb south of Paris, France. In total, 13 KPC-producing K. pneumoniae type 2 cases (four with infections and nine with digestive-tract colonisations) were identified, including a source case transferred from a Greek hospital. Of the 13 cases, seven were secondary cases associated with use of a contaminated duodenoscope used to examine the source case (attack rate: 41%) and five were secondary cases associated with patient-to-patient transmission in hospital. All isolated strains from the 13 patients: (i) exhibited resistance to all antibiotics except gentamicin and colistin, (ii) were more resistant to ertapenem (minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) always greater than 4 mg/L) than to imipenem (MIC: 1­8 mg/L, depending on the isolate), (iii) carried the blaKPC-2 and blaSHV12 genes and (iv) had an indistinguishable pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) pattern. These cases occurred in three hospitals: some were transferred to four other hospitals. Extended infection control measures implemented in the seven hospitals included: (i) limiting transfer of cases and contact patients to other wards, (ii) cohorting separately cases and contact patients, (iii) reinforcing hand hygiene and contact precautions and (iv) systematic screening of contact patients. Overall, 341 contact patients were screened. A year after the outbreak, no additional case has been identified in these seven hospitals. This outbreak emphasises the importance of rapid identification and notification of emerging highly resistant K. pneumoniae strains in order to implement reinforced control measures.

[Evaluation of practices involving a cross infection risk in anaesthesia]. / Evaluation des pratiques en anesthésie exposant au risque infectieux par transmission croisée.

OBJECTIVE: The practice of anaesthesiology has the potential for transmitting a number of infectious agents to the patient. In France, several recent cases have been identified, so that a wide survey on anaesthesiology practice has been enhanced. METHODS: An anonymous questionnaire, based on the recommendations of the French Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (Sfar), was send to 8,771 anaesthesiologists and intensive care practitioners and to 2,070 nurses practicing anaesthesiology. RESULTS: A total of 1,343 questionnaires were analyzed (response rate of 12.4%). The study shows that some recommendations were routinely applied, such as: availability of alcohol-based hand hygiene solution in operating rooms (94%), use of antimicrobial filters for respiratory circuits (99%), use of single-use laryngoscope blades (77%), aseptic technique for central venous catheterization (99%), hand hygiene after contact with body fluids (96%). In contrast, the study showed that some recommendations were partially applied: hand hygiene practice (52%), wear of gloves when a risk of blood exposure exists (23%), cleaning of reusable laryngoscope blades (19%), and incorrect wear of masks (71%). The reuse of the same syringe for several patients was described in 2% of the responses. CONCLUSION: This results, similar to those previously described in the literature, must be followed by appropriate training and education of anaesthesia personnel, implementation of the recommendations, and evaluation of practices. Reuse of the same syringe for several patients have to be eradicated because of the high risk of viral transmission.

Probable transmission of HIV from an orthopedic surgeon to a patient in France.

BACKGROUND: Transmission of HIV from infected health care workers to patients has been documented in only one cluster involving 6 patients of a dentist in Florida. In October 1995, the French Ministry of Health offered HIV testing to patients who had been operated on by an orthopedic surgeon in whom AIDS was recently diagnosed. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the surgeon transmitted HIV to patients during operations. DESIGN: Epidemiologic investigation. SETTING: The practice of an orthopedic surgeon in a French public hospital. PARTICIPANTS: 1 surgeon and 983 of his former patients. MEASUREMENTS: 3004 patients who had undergone invasive procedures were contacted by mail for counseling and HIV testing. One HIV-positive patient was interviewed, and DNA sequence analysis was performed to compare the genetic relation of the patient's and the surgeon's viruses. Infection-control precautions and the surgeon's practices were assessed. RESULTS: Of 983 patients in whom serologic status was ascertained, 982 were HIV negative and 1 was HIV positive. The HIV-positive patient, a woman born in 1925, tested negative for HIV before placement of a total hip prosthesis with bone graft (a prolonged operation) performed by the surgeon in 1992. She had no identified risk for HIV exposure. Molecular analysis indicated that the viral sequences obtained from the surgeon and the HIV-infected woman were closely related. Infection-control precautions were in accordance with recommendations, but blood contact between the surgeon and his patients occurred commonly during surgical procedures. CONCLUSIONS: An HIV-infected surgeon may have transmitted HIV to one of his patients during surgery.