Guidance for control of infections with carbapenem-resistant or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in acute care facilities.

Infection with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae is emerging as an important challenge in health-care settings. Currently, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is the species of CRE most commonly encountered in the United States. CRKP is resistant to almost all available antimicrobial agents, and infections with CRKP have been associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality, particularly among persons with prolonged hospitalization and those who are critically ill and exposed to invasive devices (e.g., ventilators or central venous catheters). This report provides updated recommendations from CDC and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) for the control of CRE or carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in acute care (inpatient) facilities. For all acute care facilities, CDC and HICPAC recommend an aggressive infection control strategy, including managing all patients with CRE using contact precautions and implementing Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines for detection of carbapenemase production. In areas where CRE are not endemic, acute care facilities should 1) review microbiology records for the preceding 6-12 months to determine whether CRE have been recovered at the facility, 2) if the review finds previously unrecognized CRE, perform a point prevalence culture survey in high-risk units to look for other cases of CRE, and 3) perform active surveillance cultures of patients with epidemiologic links to persons from whom CRE have been recovered. In areas where CRE are endemic, an increased likelihood exists for imporation of CRE, and facilities should consider additional strategies to reduce rates of CRE. Acute care facilities should review these recommendations and implement appropriate strategies to limit the spread of these pathogens.