scholarly journals Healthcare-associated infections in home healthcare: an extensive assessment, 2019

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana Hoxha ◽  
Els Duysburgh ◽  
Laure Mortgat

Introduction The number of patients and clinical conditions treated in home healthcare (HHC) is increasing. Care in home settings presents many challenges, including healthcare-associated infections (HAI). Currently, in Belgium, data and guidelines on the topic are lacking. Aim To develop a definition of HAI in HHC and investigate associated risk factors and recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC). Methods The study included three components: a scoping literature review, in-depth interviews with individuals involved in HHC and a two-round Delphi survey to reach consensus among key informants on the previous steps’ results. Results The literature review included 47 publications. We conducted 21 in-depth interviews. The Delphi survey’s two rounds had 21 and 23 participants, respectively. No standard definition was broadly accepted or known. Evidence on associated risk factors was impacted by methodological limitations and recommendations were inconsistent. Agreement was reached on defining HAI in HHC as any infection specifically linked with providing care that develops in a patient receiving HHC from a professional healthcare worker and occurs ≥ 48 hours after starting HHC. Risk factors were hand hygiene, untrained patients and caregivers, patients’ hygiene and presence and management of invasive devices. Agreed recommendations were to adapt and standardise existing IPC guidelines to HHC and to perform a national point prevalence study to measure the burden of HAI in HHC. Conclusions This study offers an overview of available evidence and field knowledge of HAI in HHC. It provides a framework for a prevalence study, future monitoring policies and guidelines on IPC in Belgium.

Author(s):  
Mohammed A. Alzunitan ◽  
Michael B. Edmond ◽  
Mohammed A. Alsuhaibani ◽  
Riley J. Samuelson ◽  
Marin L. Schweizer ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a major challenge. Various strategies have been tried to prevent or control HAIs. Positive deviance, a strategy that has been used in the last decade, is based on the observation that a few at-risk individuals follow uncommon, useful practices and that, consequently, they experience better outcomes than their peers who share similar risks. We performed a systematic literature review to measure the impact of positive deviance in controlling HAIs. Methods: A systematic search strategy was used to search PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, and Embase through May 2020 for studies evaluating positive deviance as a single intervention or as part of an initiative to prevent or control healthcare-associated infections. The risk of bias was evaluated using the Downs and Black score. Results: Of 542 articles potentially eligible for review, 14 articles were included for further analysis. All studies were observational, quasi-experimental (before-and-after intervention) studies. Hand hygiene was the outcome in 8 studies (57%), and an improvement was observed in association with implementation of positive deviance as a single intervention in all of them. Overall HAI rates were measured in 5 studies (36%), and positive deviance was associated with an observed reduction in 4 (80%) of them. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections were evaluated in 5 studies (36%), and positive deviance containing bundles were successful in all of them. Conclusions: Positive deviance may be an effective strategy to improve hand hygiene and control HAIs. Further studies are needed to confirm this effect.


2020 ◽  
Vol Volume 12 ◽  
pp. 177-185
Author(s):  
Adinew Zewdu Chernet ◽  
Kassu Dasta ◽  
Feleke Belachew ◽  
Baharu Zewdu ◽  
Mengistu Melese ◽  
...  

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 566
Author(s):  
Masato Ise ◽  
Eiji Nakata ◽  
Yoshimi Katayama ◽  
Masanori Hamada ◽  
Toshiyuki Kunisada ◽  
...  

Psychological distress is common in patients with soft tissue and bone tumors. We first investigated its frequency and the associated risk factors in patients with pre-operative bone and soft tissue tumors. Participants included 298 patients with bone and soft tissue tumors who underwent surgery in our institution between 2015 and 2020. Psychological distress was evaluated by the Distress and Impact Thermometer (DIT) that consists of two types of questions (questions about the severity of the patient’s distress (DIT-D) and its impact (DIT-I)). We used a cut-off point of 4 on the DIT-D and 3 on the DIT-I for screening patients with psychological distress. We therefore investigated: (1) the prevalence of psychological distress as assessed with DIT or distress thermometer (DT), which can be decided by DIT-D ≥ 4, (2) what are the risk factors for the prevalence of psychological distress, and (3) what is the number of patients who consulted a psychiatrist for psychological distress in patients with pre-operative bone and soft tissue tumors. With DIT and DT, we identified 64 patients (21%) and 95 patients (32%), respectively, with psychological distress. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that older age, sex (female), malignancy (malignant or intermediate tumor), a lower Barthel Index, and higher numeric rating scale were risk factors for psychological distress. Two patients (3%) consulted a psychiatrist after surgery. In conclusion, careful attention to psychological distress is needed, especially for female patients, older patients, and those with malignant soft or bone tissue tumors who have more than moderate pain.


Uro ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 108-117
Author(s):  
Henry J. Paiste ◽  
Luke Moradi ◽  
Dean G. Assimos ◽  
Kyle D. Wood ◽  
Pankaj P. Dangle

Objectives: To examine the most recent literature and published science in determining any and all possible associations between pediatric obesity and pediatric urolithiasis. Methods: Retrospective literature review of pediatric stone formers with diagnosed stone disease and all associated risk factors. Peer-reviewed, published manuscripts from the past several decades were analyzed for risk factors associated with pediatric obesity such as diet, hypertension, and renal diseases. Comparing the pediatric obesity literature with the pediatric stone forming literature, any associations and correlations were derived and analyzed. Results: Despite the existing evidence that obesity is linked to stones in adults, the evidence remains unclear whether obesity plays a role in children. Nutritional discrepancies, in the setting of the obesity epidemic, have been shown to alter the risk profile of pediatric patients. Consistent with the published literature, and lack of consistent correlation with obesity and stone disease, is the knowledge that age, gender, geography, and climate may all play a role in the onset of pediatric obesity and may also be on the causal pathway toward pediatric urolithiasis. Conclusion: The manuscript demonstrates that there are a number of risk factors, congenital or acquired, that are associated with pediatric obesity. The mechanisms responsible for these associations may be on the causal pathway toward childhood urolithiasis. These mechanisms that underlie these associations need to be further investigated.


Author(s):  
Stefanie Kampmeier ◽  
Hauke Tönnies ◽  
Carlos L. Correa-Martinez ◽  
Alexander Mellmann ◽  
Vera Schwierzeck

Abstract Background Currently, hospitals have been forced to divert substantial resources to cope with the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. It is unclear if this situation will affect long-standing infection prevention practices and impact on healthcare associated infections. Here, we report a nosocomial cluster of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) that occurred on a COVID-19 dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) despite intensified contact precautions during the current pandemic. Whole genome sequence-based typing (WGS) was used to investigate genetic relatedness of VRE isolates collected from COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 patients during the outbreak and to compare them to environmental VRE samples. Methods Five VRE isolated from patients (three clinical and two screening samples) as well as 11 VRE and six vancomycin susceptible Enterococcus faecium (E. faecium) samples from environmental sites underwent WGS during the outbreak investigation. Isolate relatedness was determined using core genome multilocus sequence typing (cgMLST). Results WGS revealed two genotypic distinct VRE clusters with genetically closely related patient and environmental isolates. The cluster was terminated by enhanced infection control bundle strategies. Conclusions Our results illustrate the importance of continued adherence to infection prevention and control measures during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent VRE transmission and healthcare associated infections.


2021 ◽  
pp. 175717742110358
Author(s):  
Sailesh Kumar Shrestha ◽  
Swarup Shrestha ◽  
Sisham Ingnam

Information on the burden of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and patterns of antibiotic use are prerequisites for infection prevention and control (IPC) and antibiotics stewardship programmes. However, a few studies have been reported from resource-limited settings and many of them have not used standard definitions to diagnose HAI precluding benchmarking with regional or international data. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of HAIs and antibiotic use in our centre. We conducted a point prevalence survey in a 350-bed university hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal in April 2019. We reviewed all patients aged ⩾ 18 years admitted to the hospital for at least two calendar days and evaluated for the three common HAIs—pneumonia, urinary tract infection and surgical site infection. We used the clinical criteria by the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control to diagnose the HAIs. We also collected information on the antibiotics used. Of 160 eligible patients, 18 (11.25%) had HAIs and 114 (87.5%) were on antibiotics, with more than half of them (61/114 patients, 53.5%) receiving two or more antibiotics. This highlights the need for effective implementation of IPC as well as antibiotics stewardship programmes in our centre.


2019 ◽  
Vol 132 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-15
Author(s):  
Eleanor Mitchell ◽  
Mark S Pearce ◽  
Anthony Roberts

Abstract Introduction and background Incidence of gram-negative bloodstream infections (GNBSIs) and sepsis are rising in the UK. Healthcare-associated risk factors have been identified that increase the risk of infection and associated mortality. Current research is focused on identifying high-risk patients and improving the methods used for surveillance. Sources of data Comprehensive literature search of the topic area using PubMed (Medline). Government, professional and societal publications were also reviewed. Areas of agreement A range of healthcare-associated risk factors independently associate with the risk of GNBSIs and sepsis. Areas of controversy There are calls to move away from using simple comorbidity scores to predict the risk of sepsis-associated mortality, instead more advanced multimorbidity models should be considered. Growing points and areas for developing research Advanced risk models should be created and evaluated for their ability to predict sepsis-associated mortality. Investigations into the accuracy of NEWS2 to predict sepsis-associated mortality are required.


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