Do you know where that stethoscope has been?
Nearly three out of five patients infected with a drug-resistant bacteria that can survive on hospital curtains, stethoscopes or even your doctor?s tie picked up the disease after being admitted, a study released Monday found.
Drug resistant staphylococcus infections may be far more common than previously thought, according to the study released by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
“It needs to be a wake-up call for our health care workers across the country, from the [chief executive officers] and administration down to the people cleaning the rooms,” association CEO Kathy Warye said. “Each one of them has a role to play.”
Nearly 5 percent of all nursing home, rehabilitation center and hospital patients either have a drug resistant staph infection or are carrying the bacteria on their skin, the APIC survey found. Of those, 63 percent were of types not usually seen outside of hospital settings.
Strong leadership is needed at every hospital to identify infections and threats specific to their facilities and respond accordingly, Warye said.
“We would really like to see infection prevention and control be higher on their radar screens,” she said.
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus areus (MRSA) is not affected by many common front-line antibiotics and it can cause skin, soft-tissue, blood and urinary tract infections, and pneumonia, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The disease can be deadly for people with compromised immune systems or recovering from disease or medical procedures.
At Baltimore?s Mercy Medical Center, where all intensive care unit patients are routinely screened, the survey results were no surprise.
About 10 percent of ICU patients with no known risk factors or previous infections are found to be MRSA positive, infection control chief Dr. Ronald Geckler said.
“We wouldn?t be finding those patients if we weren?t screening,” he said.
The survey did not break down information to the state or individual hospital level because that data could be misinterpreted or misleading, lead researcher Dr. William Jarvissaid.
Hospitals that have higher rates of infection are likely to be those starting to take active measures to detect and prevent infections, he said. And while the survey covered more than 1,200 hospitals, or one in five nationwide, state-level response varied from one to 99 institutions reporting, making that data less reliable.
U.MD. Medical center taking action
Protecting patients: One hospital?s fight against the superbug:
The University of Maryland Medical Center, like many hospitals in the region, has a comprehensive screening program in place to identify patients carrying or infected with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus areus.
Highlights of their screening program include:
» A nasal-swab test gives rapid results within hours.
» All patients admitted to all nine intensive care units are tested upon admission, one week later and upon discharge.
» All patients admitted who have been in another hospital or health care facility within the past year or who have a skin infection are also screened.
» Those who test positive are isolated and health care workers use “contact precautions” including gloves and gowns to prevent the spread of the organism.
? Karl B. Hille
