Blood culture procedures and practices in the neonatal intensive care unit: A survey of a large multicenter collaborative in California.

OBJECTIVE: To describe variation in blood culture practices in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). DESIGN: Survey of neonatal practitioners involved with blood culturing and NICU-level policy development. PARTICIPANTS: We included 28 NICUs in a large antimicrobial stewardship quality improvement program through the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative. METHODS: Web-based survey of bedside blood culture practices and NICU- and laboratory-level practices. We evaluated adherence to recommended practices. RESULTS: Most NICUs did not have a procedural competency (54%), did not document the sample volume (75%), did not receive a culture contamination report (57%), and/or did not require reporting to the provider if <1 mL blood was obtained (64%). The skin asepsis procedure varied across NICUs. Only 71% had a written procedure, but ≥86% changed the needle and disinfected the bottle top prior to inoculation. More than one-fifth of NICUs draw a culture from an intravascular device only (if present). Of 13 modifiable practices related to culture and contamination, NICUs with nurse practitioners more frequently adopted >50% of practices, compared to units without (92% vs 50% of units; P < .02). CONCLUSIONS: In the NICU setting, recommended practices for blood culturing were not routinely performed.

The antibiogram: key considerations for its development and utilization.

The antibiogram is an essential resource for institutions to track changes in antimicrobial resistance and to guide empirical antimicrobial therapy. In this Viewpoint, data and examples from literature are presented that suggest institutions have not completely adopted the standardized approach in developing antibiograms, as variations in the development methodologies of antibiograms exist despite consensus guidelines (M39) published by CLSI. We emphasize developing antibiograms in line with the M39 recommendations will help ensure that they are accurate, reliable and valid, and highlight that understanding the limitations of antibiogram data is critical to ensuring appropriate interpretation and application to clinical decision-making. We also stress the importance of easy accessibility and education on antibiogram use, to allow for prescribers to select the most optimal empirical treatment regimens and propose the creation of an abbreviated antibiogram for frontline users. Multidisciplinary antimicrobial stewardship programmes are vital to accomplishing these goals.

Detection of carbapenem resistant enterobacteriace from fomite surfaces.

Accurately identifying carbapenem resistant enterobacteriace (CRE) from fomites is critical for infection control practices, research, and assessing patient risk. We compared a commercial CRE agar intended for patient use with a modified MacConkey agar. We found that our modified MacConkey agar was more selective at identifying CRE from environmental sources.

Decolonization to Reduce Postdischarge Infection Risk among MRSA Carriers.

BACKGROUND: Hospitalized patients who are colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are at high risk for infection after discharge. METHODS: We conducted a multicenter, randomized, controlled trial of postdischarge hygiene education, as compared with education plus decolonization, in patients colonized with MRSA (carriers). Decolonization involved chlorhexidine mouthwash, baths or showers with chlorhexidine, and nasal mupirocin for 5 days twice per month for 6 months. Participants were followed for 1 year. The primary outcome was MRSA infection as defined according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria. Secondary outcomes included MRSA infection determined on the basis of clinical judgment, infection from any cause, and infection-related hospitalization. All analyses were performed with the use of proportional-hazards models in the per-protocol population (all participants who underwent randomization, met the inclusion criteria, and survived beyond the recruitment hospitalization) and as-treated population (participants stratified according to adherence). RESULTS: In the per-protocol population, MRSA infection occurred in 98 of 1063 participants (9.2%) in the education group and in 67 of 1058 (6.3%) in the decolonization group; 84.8% of the MRSA infections led to hospitalization. Infection from any cause occurred in 23.7% of the participants in the education group and 19.6% of those in the decolonization group; 85.8% of the infections led to hospitalization. The hazard of MRSA infection was significantly lower in the decolonization group than in the education group (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.52 to 0.96; P=0.03; number needed to treat to prevent one infection, 30; 95% CI, 18 to 230); this lower hazard led to a lower risk of hospitalization due to MRSA infection (hazard ratio, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.99). The decolonization group had lower likelihoods of clinically judged infection from any cause (hazard ratio, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.70 to 0.99) and infection-related hospitalization (hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.62 to 0.93); treatment effects for secondary outcomes should be interpreted with caution owing to a lack of prespecified adjustment for multiple comparisons. In as-treated analyses, participants in the decolonization group who adhered fully to the regimen had 44% fewer MRSA infections than the education group (hazard ratio, 0.56; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.86) and had 40% fewer infections from any cause (hazard ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.46 to 0.78). Side effects (all mild) occurred in 4.2% of the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Postdischarge MRSA decolonization with chlorhexidine and mupirocin led to a 30% lower risk of MRSA infection than education alone. (Funded by the AHRQ Healthcare-Associated Infections Program and others; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01209234 .).

Prevalence of and Factors Associated With Multidrug Resistant Organism (MDRO) Colonization in 3 Nursing Homes.

Nursing home residents are at risk for acquiring and transmitting MDROs. A serial point-prevalence study of 605 residents in 3 facilities using random sampling found MDRO colonization in 45% of residents: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, 26%); extended-spectrum ß-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL, 17%); vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus spp. (VRE, 16%); carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE, 1%). MDRO colonization was associated with history of MDRO, care needs, incontinence, and catheters. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;1485-1488.

Body site Staphylococcus aureus colonization among maintenance hemodialysis patients.

BACKGROUND: Patients on maintenance hemodialysis therapy are at high risk for health care-associated infections. Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of health care-associated infections among maintenance hemodialysis patients. It is established that S. aureus colonization is associated with an increased risk for subsequent infection in this population. There is an increasing number of reports that extranasal S. aureus colonization is more common than previously believed and in certain body sites even more common than nasal colonization. There are few data describing extranasal colonization among maintenance hemodialysis patients. METHODS: We surveyed 100 patients at 3 body sites (anterior nares, oropharynx, and inguinal region) for S. aureus colonization. Participants were also administered a standardized survey to assess risk factors for S. aureus colonization. RESULTS: We found that 42% (95% CI 32-52) of patients were S. aureus colonized in >1 body site. Extranasal colonization was found among 32% (95% CI 23-41). There were trends suggestive of an association between S. aureus colonization and younger age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.94-1.001, p = 0.06) and not having been hospitalized in the previous 12 months (OR 0.44, 95% CI 0.19-1.06, p = 0.14). CONCLUSION: Extranasal S. aureus colonization is common among maintenance hemodialysis patients with a prevalence of approximately one third. Future S. aureus decolonization efforts may need to consider not just nasal decolonization but also decolonization of the skin and oropharynx.