[brian]

Many U.S. hospitals have taken steps to rid their facilities of a drug-resistant type of "superbug" bacteria called MRSA but there is still a lot of room for improvement, infection control experts said on Tuesday.

The findings by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, or APIC, come a year after the same group found MRSA rates were more than eight times as common as believed in U.S. hospitals.

That study suggested nearly 5 percent of patients, 46 out of every 1,000, were infected or colonized with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA for short.

In a follow-up survey of more than 2,000 infection control experts, 76 percent said their hospitals have taken additional steps to prevent MRSA transmission in the past year.

But 54 percent said their hospitals were not doing as much as they could.

Full Story: http://www.reuters.com/article/healt...77339120080617

[herring_RN]

Strict 'Search and Destroy' Program Effective Against MRSA in the Netherlands: Presented at ECCMID

...With its strict search-and-destroy policy, the Netherlands has become one of the lowest prevalence areas for MRSA, at approximately 1%, Dr. van Trijp said. However, she indicated, there remains much debate relating to this policy, as it is labor-intensive and costly, and has a high impact on both patients and hospital staff...

...The methodology for MRSA detection followed in Dutch hospitals start with the taking of swabs from patients -- from the nares, throat and perineum, and where applicable, from wounds, insertion sites of intravascular catheters, urine and sputum. Hospital staff undergo similar swab taking....

http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/25991A.htm

[herring_RN]

MRSA Rates Tied to Hospital Understaffing

In busy units, even basic hand-washing can get lost in rush to treat patients, study says

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2008/06/24/mrsa-rates-tied-to-hospital-understaffing.html

[herring_RN]

Fast patient turnover spreads germs in hospitals

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Overcrowded hospitals that try to cope with growing patient loads by churning them through more quickly may be helping the spread of drug-resistant germs, Australian researchers reported on Monday.

As populations grow, and as people live longer lives, this problem will only worsen, Dr. Michael Whitby of Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane and colleagues reported.

"The drive towards greater efficiency by reducing the number of hospital beds and increasing patient throughput has led to highly stressed health-care systems with unwelcome side-effects," they wrote in the Lancet Infectious Diseases….

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSN2330688720080623?feedType=RSS&feedName=health News