Journal of preventive medicine and hygiene
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The aims of our study were to investigate a nosocomial spread of an extended-spectrum fl-lactamases-Klebsiella pneumoniae cluster at a University teaching hospital in Italy, to describe, and to monitor the implementation of a multimodal infection control program in two mixed ICUs. ⋯ Our findings confirm the important role of personnel in cross-transmission. Moreover the inbuilt control group involuntarily offered by the delaying of the intervention in ICU B has given the opportunity to verify the epidemiological association between the actual implementation of infection control practices and the outbreak control.
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The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of the MR compilation in some Operative Units of the "Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria--II Università di Napoli" (AOU- SUN)-Italy, before and after an intervention of quality improvement, underlining the potential differences in the behaviour of different specialists (physicians vs. surgeons). ⋯ The improvement was not satisfying since from a medical and a legal point of view the indicators should reach 100% of clarity and completeness. A further study is being carried out to improve the involvement of health care professional, so that such requirements will be perceived as a common goal, not as mere bureaucratic initiatives.
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Home injuries (HI) represent a social and public health problem worldwide. In Italy, there are 1,300,000-1,700,000 admissions to Emergency Department (ED) for HI and 130,000 hospitalizations every year, but the data are incomplete and fragmentary. A study of the phenomenon was carried out in Emergency Department (ED) of Civil Hospital of Verona to evaluate prevalence, characteristics and possible preventive actions. ⋯ Children in pre-school age, men between 30 and 40 years and women over 60 years are the population groups most at risk, with a fairly homogeneous incidence distribution. Both sexes have similar distributions up to 41-50 years followed by an increase in females and a decrease in males at higher age. The traumas are generally slight (49.8% white code and 42.1% green code) and the hospitalizations represent 5.8% of all recorded HI. The most frequent injuries are wounds/abrasions (28.7%), contusions/crushing (27.7%) and fractures/distortions/ dislocations. The most affected body parts are hands and wrists (25.9%). Head trauma is significantly more frequent in children and elderly people, fracture in elderly people, and burn in adult women and male children. Every year about 30% of the admissions to emergency departments are caused by HI. Even though 92% of the times the events aren't serious, the sanitary cost is consistent due to the elevate number of admissions. It is therefore important to do prevention through sanitary education and adequate building legislation.
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The number of patients with severe Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhoea (CDAD) increases. Health care facilities are requested to establish rates of nosocomially acquired CDAD (N-CDAD) to understand the impact of control or prevention measures, and the burden of N-CDAD on health care resources. ⋯ This single-center surveillance project, which established N-CDAD rates at frequencies currently reported from international surveys, is useful as benchmark and will help in understanding patterns and impact of N-CDAD at the regional level.