Infection control and hospital epidemiology : the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Mar 2008
Assessment of Clostridium difficile-associated disease surveillance definitions, North Carolina, 2005.
To determine the timing of community-onset Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) relative to the patient's last healthcare facility discharge, the association of postdischarge cases with healthcare facility-onset cases, and the influence of postdischarge cases on overall rates and interhospital comparison of rates of CDAD. ⋯ A substantial proportion of community-onset cases of CDAD occur less than 4 weeks after discharge from a healthcare facility, and inclusion of CO-HCFA cases influences interhospital comparisons. Our findings support the use of a proposed definition of healthcare facility-associated CDAD that includes cases that occur within 4 weeks after discharge.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Feb 2008
Randomized Controlled Trial Meta AnalysisRandomized controlled trial and meta-analysis of oral decontamination with 2% chlorhexidine solution for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia.
To determine the effectiveness of oral decontamination with 2% chlorhexidine solution for the prevention of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). ⋯ Oral decontamination with 2% chlorhexidine solution is an effective and safe method for preventing VAP in patients who receive mechanical ventilation.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Feb 2008
Risk of hand or glove contamination after contact with patients colonized with vancomycin-resistant enterococcus or the colonized patients' environment.
To estimate the level of hand or glove contamination with vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) among healthcare workers (HCWs) who touch a patient colonized with VRE and/or the colonized patient's environment during routine care. ⋯ HCWs were nearly as likely to have contaminated their hands or gloves after touching the environment in a room occupied by a patient colonized by VRE as after touching the colonized patient and the patient's environment. Gloves were highly protective with respect to hand contamination.
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Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol · Jan 2008
Contamination of examination gloves in patient rooms and implications for transmission of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms .
An assessment of bacterial contamination on examination gloves indicated that contaminated gloves may be a mechanism of indirect bacterial transmission from the hands of healthcare workers to patients. This mechanism is indicated by the recovery of identical Acinetobacter baumannii isolates from gloves and from the clinical cultures of a patient with invasive infection.