Increasing the frequency of hand washing by healthcare workers does not lead to commensurate reductions in staphylococcal infection in a hospital ward

Hand hygiene is generally considered to be the most important measure that can be applied to prevent the spread of healthcare-associated infection (HAI). Continuous emphasis on this intervention has lead to the widespread opinion that HAI rates can be greatly reduced by increased hand hygiene compliance alone. However, this assumes that the effectiveness of hand hygiene is not constrained by other factors and that improved compliance in excess of a given level, in itself, will result in a commensurate reduction in the incidence of HAI. However, several researchers have found the law of diminishing returns to apply to hand hygiene, with the greatest benefits occurring in the first 20% or so of compliance, and others have demonstrated that poor cohorting of nursing staff profoundly influences the effectiveness of hand hygiene measures. Collectively, these findings raise intriguing questions about the extent to which increasing compliance alone can further reduce rates of HAI. In order to investigate these issues further, we constructed a deterministic Ross-Macdonald model and applied it to a hypothetical general medical ward. In this model the transmission of staphylococcal infection was assumed to occur after contact with the transiently colonized hands of HCWs, who, in turn, acquire contamination only by touching colonized patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of imperfect hand cleansing on the transmission of staphylococcal infection and to identify, whether there is a limit, above which further hand hygiene compliance is unlikely to be of benefit. The model demonstrated that if transmission is solely via the hands of HCWs, it should, under most circumstances, be possible to prevent outbreaks of staphylococcal infection from occurring at a hand cleansing frequencies <50%, even with imperfect hand hygiene. The analysis also indicated that the relationship between hand cleansing efficacy and frequency is not linear - as efficacy decreases, so the hand cleansing frequency required to ensure R0<1 increases disproportionately. Although our study confirmed hand hygiene to be an effective control measure, it demonstrated that the law of diminishing returns applies, with the greatest benefit derived from the first 20% or so of compliance. Indeed, our analysis suggests that there is little benefit to be accrued from very high levels of hand cleansing and that in most situations compliance >40% should be enough to prevent outbreaks of staphylococcal infection occurring, if transmission is solely via the hands of HCWs. Furthermore we identified a non-linear relationship between hand cleansing efficacy and frequency, suggesting that it is important to maximise the efficacy of the hand cleansing process

Hospital infection control in Europe: evaluation of present practice and future goals.

The objective of this study was to assess current infection control practice in Europe and its structure, future research priorities, and how infection control should be organised. A questionnaire was sent to 223 hospital infection control physicians throughout Europe, of whom 54 in 18 countries responded. With respect to future research priorities in infection control in Europe, the largest proportion (69%) of the infection control specialists sampled expressed the need for standardisation of surveillance systems for international comparison of nosocomial infection rates. The results of this survey might help to create a basis for standardised guidelines which take into account European-wide interests

Profilaxia antimicrobiana em cirurgia do aparelho digestivo: uma proposta de adequação

A profilaxia antimicrobiana é uma das medidas de controle da infecção da ferida cirúrgica. Mesmo com os princípios básicos hoje bem estabelecidos, cerca de 40% das indicações habituais de profilaxia são inadequadas e um dos erros mais comuns está relacionado à duração, em geral superior a 48 horas. Ajustes na profilaxia, além de favorecer sua eficácia na prevenção da infecção cirúrgica, provavelmente contribuiriam para reduzir a pressão seletiva sobre a emergência de bactérias resistentes e custos hospitalares. A simples instituição de uma rotina de antibiótico-profilaxia não garante a adesão dos cirurgiões para adequação do uso de antimicrobianos. No presente estudo, uma intervenção foi realizada na Disciplina de Gastroenterologia Cirúrgica da Universidade Federal de São Paulo - Escola Paulista de Medicina, com a implantação de uma rotina de profilaxia, com a supervisão direta de um infectologista. Os objetivos deste estudo foram avaliar a adequação do uso do antibiótico profilático e seu efeito sobre a infecção cirúrgica pós-operatória. Foi considerada adequada a profilaxia com duração menor ou igual a 24 horas. Dos 318 procedimentos cirúrgicos realizados nos períodos pré e pós-intervenção, em 67,9% foi usado um antibiótico profilático. A intervenção reduziu o uso inadequado de antibiótico de 46,3% para 20,4% (χ² = 15,59; p < 0,05). Infecção do sítio cirúrgico ocorreu em 35,8% dos procedimentos, não se observando modificação deste índice com a adequação da antibiótico-profilaxia. A participação do infectologista é importante na difícil tarefa de racionalizar o uso dos antimicrobianos em nível hospitalar