Six-year multicenter study on short-term peripheral venous catheters-related bloodstream infection rates in 246 intensive units of 83 hospitals in 52 cities of 14 countries of Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates-International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) findings.

BACKGROUND: Short-term peripheral venous catheters-related bloodstream infections (PVCR-BSIs) rates have not been systematically studied, and data on their incidence by number of device-days is not available. METHODS: Prospective, surveillance study on PVCR-BSI conducted from September 1st, 2013 to 31st Mays, 2019 in 246 intensive care units (ICUs), members of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC), from 83 hospitals in 52 cities of 14 countries in the Middle East (Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Jordan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, Tunisia, Turkey, and United Arab Emirates). We applied U.S. RESULTS: We followed 31,083 ICU patients for 189,834 bed-days and 202,375 short term peripheral venous catheter (PVC)-days. We identified 470 PVCR-BSIs, amounting to a rate of 2.32/1000 PVC-days. Mortality in patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 10.38%, and 29.36% in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. The mean length of stay in patients with PVC but without PVCR-BSI was 5.94 days, and 16.84 days in patients with PVC and PVCR-BSI. The microorganism profile showed 55.2 % of gram-positive bacteria, with Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (31%) and Staphylococcus aureus (14%) being the predominant ones. Gram-negative bacteria accounted for 39% of cases, and included: Escherichia coli (7%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (8%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5%), Enterobacter spp. (3%), and others (29.9%), such as Serratia marcescens. CONCLUSIONS: PVCR-BSI rates found in our ICUs were much higher than rates published from USA, Australia, and Italy. Infection prevention programs must be implemented to reduce the incidence of PVCR-BSIs.

Screening for the hepatitis C virus in some dental clinics in Alexandria, Egypt.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Individuals can be exposed to the hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection through inadequately or improperly sterilized medical or dental equipment. The aim of this study was to detect HCV RNA in the dental setting in Alexandria, Egypt. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study included 100 samples collected from five dental clinics (A-E) in Alexandria. The samples were collected from critical, semicritical, and noncritical instruments during different periods of the day (morning, mid-day, end of the day). Samples were subjected to a reverse transcriptase-PCR for the detection of HCV RNA. RESULTS: HCV RNA was detected in 18% (18 out of 100) of the instrument samples tested. Two positive HCV RNA samples were collected from semicritical instruments in clinic B, whereas 16 positive HCV RNA samples were collected from clinic D (eight samples from critical, six samples from semicritical, and two samples from noncritical instruments). There was a statistically significant difference between clinics B and D in terms of the samples collected in the morning and those collected at the end of the day. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS: HCV RNA as detected by PCR was found in a considerable percent of instruments' samples (18%). Most of the positive HCV RNA samples (16 out of 18 samples) obtained from instruments were among those collected from clinic D. This clinic used only glutaraldehyde as a method of sterilization. Therefore, proper infection control measures, including sterilization and disinfection should be strictly adopted.