R P Vonberg

..Aim of this study was to determine to what extent evidence-based infection control recommendations are applied in German intensive care units (ICUs)...

..The objective of this systematic review was to identify differences between outbreaks of health care-associated infections in NICUs and other ICUs as reported to date in the medical literature...

..In contrast, the reputation of the health care facility in the public media was much less important. It seems that kindness and basic hygiene measures, both quite inexpensive factors, are key issues for patients...

..The review summarizes the results of selected outbreak reports and systematic analyses of nosocomial outbreaks from 2007 and focuses on different aspects of hospital epidemiology and infection control...

..Nosocomial CDAD is associated with high costs for healthcare systems. Clinicians should be aware of the financial impact of this disease and the application of appropriate infection control measures is recommended to reduce spread...

..Staff in the hospital itself may be the source of a nosocomial outbreak (NO). But the role of undetected carriers as an outbreak source is yet unknown...

..Laminar air flow systems do not seem to prevent SSI but may even cause harm, instead. There is a strong association between the annual number of surgical procedures and low SSI rates...

..This recommendation, however, is not an evidence-based one...

..However, the evaluation in most of theses studies disregards the fact that there are additional competing events, such as discharge or death...

..To avoid retrograde contamination of filters, education of staff and patients in handling these devices is mandatory...

..Dermatologists should be informed about this specific type of infection and about the appropriate infection control measures...

..Because there are many immunocompromised patients in our facility we will continue our current infection control management until more data concerning MRGN are available...

..We estimated the avoidable costs due to nosocomial urinary tract infections (UTI) based on the data of the German National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System (KISS)...

..Existing local protocols and practices for the control of C. difficile should be carefully reviewed and modified if necessary...

..Terminal tap water filters may be used to prevent nosocomial Legionnaires' disease. We present data from water samples using an improved kind of tap water filters...

..However, its impact on the number of particles and microorganisms inside the vehicle--and by this its impact on the risk of an allergic reaction--is yet unknown...

..As this database may be used free of charge, all medical staff in the field of infection control, hygiene, and hospital epidemiology should be aware of its existence...

....

..A large proportion of drug-related nosocomial infections could have been prevented, for example, by avoiding the use of multi-dose vials...

..BCG immunisation led to a local suppression of the allergic reaction within the lung. No reduction of systemic IgE production was observed. Further studies are necessary to determine a possible time dependence of BCG immunisation...

..Do not use multi dose vials unless declared by manufacturer. Alcoholic hand disinfection is the most important measure in order to avoid nosocomial pathogen transmission and infection...

..In contrast to the huge amount of data available for ICU patients, appropriate surveillance data for non-ICU patients have been missing in Germany...

..Especially cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are known to be at risk for MRGN acquisition. We present surveillance data of endemic MRGN in CF patients from a German university hospital during a 3-year period...

..Even small concentrations of spores have been associated with outbreaks, mainly due to A. fumigatus or A. flavus. Patients at risk should not be exposed to aspergilli...

..Samples that were positive for Legionella spp. contained 1-4 cfu/mL. We believe that an impregnated filter system is suitable for the prevention of nosocomial Legionellosis in high-risk patient care areas...

..The choice of suctioning system (open vs. closed) remains unresolved in evidence-based guidelines. This meta-analysis was carried out to analyze the effect of the type of suctioning system on the incidence of VAP...

..Therefore, pathogen transmission needs to be prevented. There are several guidelines for the care of CF patients, but no transparent systematic literature review has been published...

..Of 191 outbreaks identified, 11 had strong epidemiological evidence that HCWs were the source. In 3 of these outbreaks, asymptomatic carriers were the cause. The frequent practice of screening asymptomatic HCWs should be reconsidered...

..Recently, PCR methods have been developed which allow the specific identification of MRSA even from nasal swabs...

..This article summarises the results of a systematic search of the medical literature on polyphasic outbreaks...

..Depending upon the local MRSA prevalence and the parameter of interest (sensitivity or specificity), these test systems may be useful for routine diagnostic purposes...

..Overall, in 37.1%, no source was identified. The main sources identified were index patients (40.3%), followed by equipment and devices (21.1%), environment (19.8%), and personnel (15.8%)...

..cepacia complex strains and Burkholderia spp. The identification system was easy to handle and revealed B. cepacia complex genomovar I-V status from culture isolates within about 1 h...