Infection-control interventions are needed to minimize transmission of influenza-like illness (ILI) and other infections in settings where children are in close proximity.

A 240-children Thai kindergarten.

Three-year, quasi-experimental study was conducted to assess the association between the use of a bundle of 4 infection control interventions and the incidence of ILI, diarrheal illnesses, and hand-foot-mouth infections among preschool children. The numbers of incident infections were calculated for the preintervention year (period 1), the immediate postintervention year (period 2), and the sustained postintervention year (period 3).

The monthly incidence of ILI in period 1 (mean, 124 episodes per month) was 25.8 cases per 1,000 child-days; in period 2, it was 10.1 cases per 1,000 child-days (a reduction of 60.8%; P = .008); and in period 3, it was 8.2 cases per 1,000 child-days (a further reduction of 19%; P = .002). The monthly incidence of diarrheal illnesses in period 1 was 14 cases per 1,000 child-days; in period 2, it was 4 cases per 1,000 child-days (P = .01); and in period 3, it was 3 cases per 1,000 child-days (P = .007). The yearly incidence of hand-foot-mouth infection in period 1 was 10 cases per 1,000 child-days; in period 2, it was 1 case per 1,000 child-days (P = .01); and in period 3, it was 0.5 cases per 1,000 child-days per year (P = .007).

Use of the infection control intervention bundle was associated with reduced incidence of ILI at the Thai preschool.

Intravenous prostanoids (epoprostenol and treprostinil) are effective therapies for pulmonary arterial hypertension but carry a risk of catheter-related bloodstream infection (CR-BSI). Prevention of CR-BSI during long-term use of indwelling central venous catheters is important.

To evaluate whether using a closed-hub system and waterproofing catheter hub connections reduces the rate of CR-BSI per 1,000 catheter-days.

Single-center open observational study (January 2003-December 2008).

Pediatric patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension who received intravenous prostanoids.

In July 2007, CR-BSI preventive measures were implemented, including the use of a closed-hub system and the waterproofing of catheter hub connections during showering. Rates of CR-BSI before and after implementing preventive measures were compared with respect to medication administered and type of bacterial infection.

Fifty patients received intravenous prostanoid therapy for a total of 41,840 catheter-days. The rate of CR-BSI during the study period was 0.51 infections per 1,000 catheter-days for epoprostenol and 1.38 infections per 1,000 catheter-days for treprostinil, which differed significantly (P < .01 ). CR-BSIs caused by gram-negative pathogens occurred more frequently with treprostinil than with epoprostenol (0.91 infections per 1,000 catheter-days vs 0.08 infections per 1,000 catheter-days; P <.01). Patients treated with treprostinil after the implemented changes had a significant decrease in CR-BSI rate (1.95 infections per 1,000 catheter-days vs 0.19 infections per 1,000 catheter-days; P <.01).

The closed-hub system and the maintenance of dry catheter hub connections significantly reduced the incidence of CR-BSI (particularly infections caused by gram-negative pathogens) in patients receiving intravenous treprostinil.

Research suggests that patients could improve healthcare workers' compliance with hand hygiene recommendations by reminding them to cleanse their hands.

To assess patients' perceptions of a patient-participation program to improve healthcare workers' compliance with hand hygiene.

Cross-sectional survey of patient knowledge and perceptions of healthcare-associated infections, hand hygiene, and patient participation, defined as the active involvement of patients in various aspects of their health care.

Large Swiss teaching hospital.

Of 194 patients who participated, most responded that they would not feel comfortable asking a nurse (148 respondents [76%]) or a physician (150 [77%]) to perform hand hygiene, and 57 (29%) believed that this would help prevent healthcare-associated infections. In contrast, an explicit invitation from a healthcare worker to ask about hand hygiene doubled the intention to ask a nurse (from 34% to 83% of respondents; P < .001) and to ask a physician (from 30% to 78%; P < .001). In multivariate analysis, being nonreligious, having an expansive personality, being concerned about healthcare-associated infections, and believing that patient participation would prevent healthcare-associated infections were associated with the intention to ask a nurse or a physician to perform hand hygiene (P < .05). Being of Jewish, Eastern Orthodox, or Buddhist faith was associated also with increased intention to ask a nurse (P < .05), compared with being of Christian faith.

This study identifies several sociodemographic characteristics associated with the intention to ask nurses and physicians about hand hygiene and underscores the importance of a direct invitation from healthcare workers to increase patient participation and foster patient empowerment. These findings could guide the development of future hand hygiene-promotion strategies.

We investigated a cluster of cases of bloodstream infection (BSI) due to the mold Phialemonium at a hemodialysis center in Illinois and conducted a cohort study to identify risk factors.

Environmental assessment and cohort study.

A hemodialysis center in a tertiary care hospital.

A case patient was defined as a person who underwent dialysis at the center and had a blood sample that tested positive for Phialemonium curvatum on culture. We reviewed microbiology and medical records and tested water, surface, and dialysate samples by culture. Molds isolated from environmental and clinical specimens were identified by their morphological features and confirmed by sequencing DNA.

We identified 2 case patients with BSI due to P. curvatum. Both became febrile and hypotensive while undergoing dialysis on the same machine at the same treatment station, although on different days. Dialysis machines were equipped with waste handling option ports that are used to discard dialyzer priming fluid. We isolated P. curvatum from the product water (ie, water used for dialysis purposes) at 2 of 19 treatment stations, one of which was the implicated station.

The source of P. curvatum was likely the water distribution system. To our knowledge, this is the first report of patients acquiring a mold BSI from contaminated product water. The route of exposure in these cases of BSI due to P. curvatum may be related to the malfunction and improper maintenance of the waste handling option ports. Waste handling option ports have been previously implicated as the source of bacterial BSI due to the backflow of waste fluid into a patient's blood line. No additional cases of infection were noted after remediation of the water distribution system and after discontinuing use of waste handling option ports at the facility.

To investigate a pseudo-outbreak of “Mycobacterium paraffinicum” (unofficial taxon) infection and/or colonization, using isolates recovered from clinical and environmental specimens.

Outbreak investigation.

University-affiliated, tertiary-care hospital.

M. paraffinicum, a slow-growing, nontuberculous species of mycobacteria, was recovered from 21 patients and an ice machine on a single patient care unit over a 2.5-year period. The clinical, epidemiological, and environmental investigation of this pseudo-outbreak is described.

Twenty-one patients with pulmonary symptoms and possible risk factors for tuberculosis were admitted to inpatient rooms that provided airborne isolation conditions in 2 adjacent hospital buildings. In addition, 1 outpatient had induced sputum cultured for mycobacteria in the pulmonary function laboratory. Of the samples obtained from these 21 patients, 26 isolates from respiratory samples and 1 isolate from a stool sample were identified as M. paraffinicum. Environmental isolates obtained from an ice machine in the patient care unit where the majority of the patients were admitted were also identified as M. paraffinicum.

An epidemiological investigation that used molecular tools confirmed the suspicion of a pseudo-outbreak of M. paraffinicum infection and/or colonization. The hospital water system was identified as the source of contamination.

We describe our experience using a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) during a period of active surveillance in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) from March 2007 until November 2007.

TO compare PCR with bacterial culture methods and find the screening algorithm that most successfully ensures appropriate isolation of colonized patients.

Patients in the NICU were screened for MRSA on admission and weekly thereafter until discharge. Healthcare workers (HCWs) were also screened as part of an outbreak investigation. A total of 599 individuals were screened for MRSA with both a PCR assay and selective bacterial culture. Strain typing was performed on all MRSA isolates to determine clonal relatedness.

Twenty-one of 435 infants (4.8%) screened positive for MRSA with the PCR assay. Only 11 patients (52.4%) had concomitant bacterial cultures positive for MRSA. Compared to bacterial culture, the PCR assay had a sensitivity of 100% and a specificity of 97.6%, with a positive predictive value (PPV) of 52.4%. Infants that tested positive for MRSA by both culture and PCR were more likely to have a positive PCR assay result when retested than were those who tested positive by PCR alone (80% vs 20%; P = .02). Strain typing of MRSA isolates identified a common clone in only 2 colonized infants.

Our data show that, in our neonatal population, the reproducibility of PCR assay results for culture-negative patients was low compared with the reproducibility of results for culture-positive Patients. Furthermore, the low PPV suggests that for nearly half of individuals who were PCR-positive, the result was falsely positive, which argues against the use of PCR assays alone for MRSA screening in the NICU.

To assess whether infection control indicators are associated with the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in French hospitals.

We linked the database for the 2006 national prevalence survey of nosocomial infection with the database of infection control indicators (comprised of ICALIN, an indicator of infection control organization, resources, and action, and ICSHA, an indicator of alcohol-based handrub consumption) recorded from hospitals by the Ministry of Health. Data on MRSA infection were obtained from the national prevalence survey database and included the site and origin of infection, the microorganism responsible, and its drug resistance profile. Because the prevalence of MRSA infection was low and often nil, especially in small hospitals, we restricted our analysis to hospitals with at least 300 Patients. We used a multilevel logistic regression model to assess the joint effects of patient-level variables (eg, age, sex, or infection) and hospital-level variables (infection control indicators).

Two hundred two hospitals had at least 300 patients, for a total of 128,631 Patients. The overall prevalence of MRSA infection was 0.34% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.29%-0.39%). The mean value for ICSHA was 7.8 L per 1,000 patient-days (median, 6.1 L per 1,000 patient-days; range, 0-33 L per 1,000 patient-days). The mean value for ICALIN was 92 of a possible 100 points (median, 94.5;range, 67-100). Multilevel analyses showed that ICALIN scores were associated with the prevalence of MRSA infection (odds ratio for a score change of 1 standard deviation, 0.80;95% CI, 0.69-0.93). We found no association between prevalence of MRSA infection and ICSHA. Other variables significantly associated with the prevalence of MRSA infection were sex, vascular or urinary catheter, previous surgery, and the McCabe score.

We found a significant association between the prevalence of MRSA infection and ICALIN that suggested that a higher ICALIN score may be predictive of a lower prevalence of MRSA infection.

Surveillance for latent tuberculosis in high-risk groups such as healthcare workers is limited by the nonspecificity of the tuberculin skin test (TST) in BCG-vaccinated individuals. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen-specific interferon-γ release assays (IGRAs) show promise for more accurate latent tuberculosis detection in such groups.

To compare the utility of an IGRA, the T-SPOT.TB assay, with that of the TST in healthcare workers with a high rate of BCG vaccination.

Two hundred seven medical students from 2 consecutive cohorts underwent the T-SPOT.TB test and the TST in their final year of study. Subjects with negative baseline test results underwent repeat testing after working for 1 year as junior physicians in Singapore's public hospitals.

The baseline TST result was an induration 10 mm or greater in diameter in 177 of the 205 students who returned to have their TST results evaluated (86.3%), while the baseline T-SPOT.TB assay result was positive in 9 (4.3%) of the students. Repeat T-SPOT.TB testing in 182 baseline-negative subjects showed conversion in 9 (4.9%). A repeat TST in 18 subjects with baseline-negative TST results did not reveal any TST result conversion.

The high rate of positive baseline TST results in our BCG-vaccinated healthcare workers renders the TST unsuitable as a surveillance tool in this tuberculosis risk group. Use of an IGRA has enabled the detection and treatment of latent tuberculosis in this group. Our T-SPOT.TB conversion rate highlights the need for greater tuberculosis awareness and improved infection control practices in our healthcare institutions.

The risk of latent tuberculosis (LTBI) in healthcare workers (HCWs) is high. Until recently, the tuberculin skin test (TST) was the only diagnostic test available for Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. A new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay test, the QuantiFERON-TB Gold (QFT-G) test, was recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as an alternative test for the diagnosis of LTBI in HCWs. The purpose of our study was to compare the TST and the QFT-G test in Spanish HCWs in order to improve procedures for the detection of LTBI.

A cross-sectional study with blinded comparison of TST and QFT-G test results was carried out among 134 HCWs at an 800-bed Spanish university hospital. The level of interferon-7 production stimulated by the QFT-G test was measured. A concentration of at least 0.35 IU/mL was considered a positive result. An induration of at least 5 mm in non-BCG-vaccinated or at least 15 mm in BCG-vaccinated HCWs for the TST was considered positive.

Of the 134 HCWs included (mean age, 33.4 years; 101 [75.4%] women; 47 [35.1%] BCG vaccinated), the LTBI prevalence diagnosed with any test was 11.2% (95% confidence interval, 6.6%-18.1%), with the TST was 8.96%, and with the QFT-G test was 5.97% (nonsignificant differences). The QFT-G test value was higher in subjects with TST induration of at least 15 mm than in subjects with TST induration of less than 15 mm (P < .001). Overall agreement between the results of the two tests was found in 94% of HCWs (K = 0.56), but agreement was only 59% in HCWs who had a positive result for both tests. Disagreement was present in the results found for 5% of HCWs.

Few studies have compared both tests in populations with high M. tuberculosis exposure but low BCG vaccination prevalence. Agreement between both tests is high, especially among negative Results. Studies are needed to clarify the reasons for disagreement and to establish the best TST and QFT-G test cutoff point.

Because of an increase in the rate of surgical site infections (SSIs) following spinal procedures at the study hospital, we conducted a study to determine risk factors associated with the development of a SSI.

Case-control study.

A community hospital in Houston, Texas, with more than 500 beds.

Fifty-five case patients who developed SSI after spinal surgery and 179 control patients who did not develop SSI after spinal surgery.

We examined patient- and hospital-associated risk factors for SSI by using existing data on patients who underwent spinal operations at the study hospital between December 2003 and August 2005. Multivariable analysis was conducted using logistic regression to determine significant risk factors associated with SSI.

The presence of comorbidities (odds ratio [OR], 3.15 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.20-8.26]) and surgical duration greater than the population median of 100 minutes (OR, 2.48 [95% CI, 1.12-5.49]) were identified as independent risk factors for SSI. The use of only povidone-iodine for preoperative skin antisepsis was found to be protective (OR, 0.16 [95% CI, 0.06-0.45]). Specific operating room, hospital staff involved in the procedures, workers' compensation status, method of hair removal, smoking status, or incontinence were not statistically significant.

The presence of comorbidities and increased surgical duration are risks for postoperative infection. The use of only povidone-iodine was found to decrease the risk of infection.