Modelling the contact propagation of nosocomial infection in emergency departments

The nosocomial infection is a special kind of infection that is caused by microorganisms acquired inside a hospital. In the daily care process of an emergency department, the interactions between patients and sanitary staff create the environment for the transmission of such microorganisms. Rates of morbility and mortality due to nosocomial infections areimportant indicators of the quality of hospital work. In this research, we use Agent Based Modeling and Simulation techniques to build a model of Methicillinresistant Staphylococcus Aureus propagation based on an Emergency Department Simulator which has been tested and validated previously. The model obtained will allow us to build a contact propagation simulator that enables the construction of virtual environments with theaim of analyzing how the prevention policies affect the rate of propagation of nosocomial infectionPeer Reviewe

Agent Based Model and Simulation of MRSA Transmission in Emergency Departments

In healthcare environments we can find several microorganisms causing nosocomial infection, and of which one of the most common and most dangerous is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Its presence can lead to serious complications to the patient.Our work uses Agent Based Modeling and Simulation techniques to build the model and the simulation of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus contact transmission in emergency departments. The simulator allows us to build virtual scenarios with the aim of understanding the phenomenon of MRSA transmission and the potential impact of the implementation of different measures in propagation rates

Virtual Clinical Trials : A tool for the Study of Transmission of Nosocomial Infections

A clinical trial is a study designed to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of a drug, procedure, medical device, or diagnostic test. Since clinical trials involve research in humans, they must be carefully designed and must comply strictly with a set of ethical conditions. Logistical disadvantages, ethical constraints, costs and high execution times could have a negative impact on the execution of the clinical trial. This article proposes the use of a simulation tool, the MRSA-T-Simulator, to design and perform "virtual clinical trials" for the purpose of studying MRSA contact transmission among hospitalized patients. The main advantage of the simulator is its flexibility when it comes to configuring the patient population, healthcare staff and the simulation environment

Un acercamiento a la modelización y simulación de enfermedades intra-hospitalarias

This publication presents an approach to a simulator to recreate a large number of scenarios and to make agile decisions in the planning of a real emergency room system. A modeling and simulation focused on the point prevalence of intrahospital infections in an emergency room and how it is affected by different factors related to hospital management. To carry out the simulator modeling, the Agent-based Modeling and Simulation (ABMS) paradigm was used. Thus, different intervening agents in the emergency room environment — patients and doctors, among others— were classified. The user belonging to the health system has different data to configure the simulation, such as the number of patients, the number of available beds, etc. Based on the tests carried out and the measurements obtained, it is concluded that the disease propagation model relative to the time and contact area of the patients has greater precision than the purely statistical model of the intensive care unit.En esta publicación se presenta una versión preliminar de un simulador inicial para recrear una gran cantidad de escenarios y tomar decisiones ágiles en la planificación de un sistema real de sala de emergencias. Una modelización y simulación centrada en la prevalencia puntual de infecciones intrahospitalarias en una sala de emergencias y cómo se ve afectada por diferentes factores relacionados con la gestión hospitalaria. Para realizar el modelado del simulador se utilizó el paradigma de Modelado y Simulación Basado en Agentes (ABMS). Así, se clasificaron diferentes agentes in- tervinientes en el entorno de urgencias —pacientes y médicos, entre otros—. El usuario perteneciente al sistema de salud dispone de diferentes parámetros para configurar la simulación, como el número de pacientes, el número de camas disponibles, etc. En base a las pruebas realizadas y las mediciones obtenidas, se concluye que el modelo de propagación de la enfermedad relativo al tiempo y área de contacto de los pacientes tiene mayor precisión que el modelo puramente estadístico de la unidad de cuidados intensivos.Facultad de Informátic