4 newborns dead from hospital-acquired infection in N China

>>Mar 21

Four newborns died and two others were still receiving medical treatment after contracting infections in a hospital in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, local health official said Saturday.

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An initial investigation showed the deaths were caused by hospital-acquired infection of enterobacter cloacae, a clinically significant Gram-negative bacterium.

One of the two newborns receiving medical treatment did not survive.  Five hospital staff were fired over the deaths of the five newborns.

>>Mar 30

Five staff of China hospital dismissed over newborn children deaths

Wang Xin, president of Jixian County Maternal and Child Care Service Center in northern Tianjin Municipality, and Wang Lianjiang, the center’s vice president, were removed from their posts, the Jixian County government said.

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Three other staff in charge of newborn care service at the center were also dismissed from their posts.

The county government has decided to compensate each family of the dead newborn children with 180,000 yuan (26,354 U.S.dollars).

>>March 21st

Simple techniques slash hospital infections: meeting

Jasper Palmer didn’t think he was doing anything special when he balled up his paper hospital gown and stuffed it into one of his gloves. He just knew it was tidy and would stop the gown from spreading germs.

But the technique is one of the simple innovations that has reduced rates of infection with so-called superbugs at his and other hospitals by 26 percent to 62 percent, infection control experts told a meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America in San Diego on Saturday.

>>March 23rd

Simple ideas from hospital staff cut superbug rates

Borrowing ideas from hospital workers who have devised their own clever strategies for reducing superbug spread can lead to huge drops in infection rates throughout a hospital, say infection control experts.

The experts told a meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America in San Diego on Saturday that using an approach called positive deviance (PD) at three U.S. hospitals helped to reduce the incidence of MRSA (multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) at their facilities by 26 to 62 per cent.

>>March 25th

Northern Ireland scientists find a new weapon in MRSA war

A new weapon that could help wipe out the deadly MRSA virus has been developed by researchers from Northern Ireland.
Experts from Queen’s University have discovered new agents that can kill colonies of MRSA and other antiboitic resistant hospital-acquired infections.

The antimicrobial agents also prevent any growth of the potentially lethal bacteria.

C difficile outbreak leaves three hospital patients dead

Three patients have died as a direct result of a C difficile outbreak at hospital in the South East.

East Sussex Hospitals trust has recorded 62 cases of the infection at Eastbourne District General Hospital since 1 January and has reviewed the histories of the affected patients.

The trust said on Tuesday that three patients had died as a direct result of being infected and it had contributed to a further 10 deaths.

>>March 27th

‘Search and destroy’ kills MRSA

A private hospital in Dublin has instituted a strict ’search-and-destroy’ policy to combat MRSA infections.

See a video of Dr. Fidelma Fitzpatrick from the Irish Health Protection Surveillance Centre discuss the facts of healthcare-associated infections here.

‘Super’ C. difficile outbreak linked to deaths of 13 patients

The particularly virulent new strain of C. difficile responsible for the outbreak, known as 027, can produce 20 times as much toxin as others, is known to cause a higher mortality rate and is resistant to several drugs used to combat the infection.

Today marks World TB Day, the anniversary of the day in 1882 when the cause of tuberculosis (the TB bacillus) was first discovered.

This year the awareness-raising around TB Day is tied to awareness of new strains of the disease — strains which are highly drug resistant, classified as either multi-drug resistant (MDR-TB), or extensively drug-resistant (XDR-TB).  2008-09 marked the highest ever number of M/XDR-TB cases reported to WHO.

WHO is calling the rise in cases of M/XDR-TB alarming, and an urgent global health priority. From April 1st to 3rd, they are is sponsoring a three day meeting in Beijing, which will bring together health ministers from 27 countries with high rates of M/XDR-TB.

“To allow this form of TB to become widespread would be a setback of epic proportions”
–WHO Director-General, Dr Margaret Chan, in her address to the 61st World Health Assembly. [link]

Environmental cleaning intervention reduces transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms in ICUs

A rigorous environmental cleaning intervention can reduce the transmission of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and other multidrug-resistant organisms in hospital intensive care units (ICUs), according to a new study released today at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA). Researchers found that following an enhanced cleaning protocol reduced the spread of MRSA to patients exposed to rooms in which the prior occupant had been colonized or infected.

Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) has published “Hospital infection control strategies for antibiotic-resistant organisms”:

Identified risk factors include:

…increasing age of patient and severity of disease, increasing length of hospital stay, admission to an intensive care unit and proximity to patients carrying an antimicrobial-resistant organism. Use of broad-spectrum antibiotics and/or prolonged use of antibiotics are also risk factors.

Full Article:  “Hospital infection control strategies for antibiotic-resistant organisms”

>>Mar 10/09

Support Services Crucial to Infection Control, Study Says
CUPE says control of HAI is “much more complex than people just washing their hands”:

The research paper draws from reports in countries including Canada, Scotland and the United Kingdom, which note that clinical studies and audits have linked HAI outbreaks with understaffing, increased workload, high turnover and inadequate training.

Charlottetown medical unit reopens after superbug causes lockdown
A Charlottetown hospital, which recently stated an outbreak of MRSA and VRE was over, just re-opened after lockdown to control another superbug problem.

Part of Charlottetown’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital was locked down Monday afternoon and night, and has since reopened after a patient tested positive for a superbug.

Hospital officials are still trying to determine the source of the bacteria.

>>Mar 11/09

How contractors are battling infection during hospital construction
Building Design & Construction looks at how hospital infection control can be considered at the earliest stage of construction or renovation.

Every year, about 90,000 patients in U.S. hospitals contract nosocomial infections — they get sick (or sicker) from something they caught in the hospital. Two or three thousand of them die as a result.

Building Teams are helping to attack this problem by taking steps to control the spread of infection sources during construction of new facilities or additions, or during renovation of existing hospitals.

>>Mar 12/09

Kenta Secures $10M to Advance Antibodies against Nosocomial Infections
Kenta Biotech has raised $10m in private financing to cover the “ongoing development of two antibodies targeting aggressive bacteria that cause nosocomial infections.”

>>Feb 28/09

Antibiotic resistance: The ongoing challenge for effective drug therapy
The Journal for the American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA) posts the first in a series of three articles on antibiotic resistance that “reviews this serious health threat, explains why the challenge is never-ending, and offers possible solutions.”

>>Mar 4/09

A 76-Year-Old Man With Recurrent Clostridium difficile Associated Diarrhea
JAMA article takes an in-depth look at the management of c.difficile by following the case of Mr S — examining the difficulties in managing c.difficile treatment can complicate the management of other conditions.