OBJECTIVE: Hospital environmental surfaces are frequently contaminated by microorganisms. However, the causal mechanism of bacterial contamination of the environment as a source of transmission is still debated. This prospective study was performed to characterize the nature of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission between the environment and patients using standard microbiological and molecular techniques. SETTING: Prospective cohort study at 2 academic medical centers. DESIGN: A prospective multicenter study to characterize the nature of bacterial transfer events between patients and environmental surfaces in rooms that previously housed patients with 1 of 4 'marker' MDROs: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Clostridium difficile, and MDR Acinetobacter baumannii. Environmental and patient microbiological samples were obtained on admission into a freshly disinfected inpatient room. Repeat samples from room surfaces and patients were taken on days 3 and 7 and each week the patient stayed in the same room. The bacterial identity, antibiotic susceptibility, and molecular sequences were compared between organisms found in the environment samples and patient sources. RESULTS: We enrolled 80 patient-room admissions; 9 of these patients (11.3%) were asymptomatically colonized with MDROs at study entry. Hospital room surfaces were contaminated with MDROs despite terminal disinfection in 44 cases (55%). Microbiological Bacterial Transfer events either to the patient, the environment, or both occurred in 12 patient encounters (18.5%) from the microbiologically evaluable cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Microbiological Bacterial Transfer events between patients and the environment were observed in 18.5% of patient encounters and occurred early in the admission. This study suggests that research on prevention methods beyond the standard practice of room disinfection at the end of a patient's stay is needed to better prevent acquisition of MDROs through the environment.
OBJECTIVE: Hospital environmental surfaces are frequently contaminated by microorganisms. However, the causal mechanism of bacterial contamination of the environment as a source of transmission is still debated. This prospective study was performed to characterize the nature of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission between the environment and patients using standard microbiological and molecular techniques. SETTING: Prospective cohort study at 2 academic medical centers. DESIGN: A prospective multicenter study to characterize the nature of bacterial transfer events between patients and environmental surfaces in rooms that previously housed patients with 1 of 4 'marker' MDROs: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin-resistant enterococci, Clostridium difficile, and MDR Acinetobacter baumannii. Environmental and patient microbiological samples were obtained on admission into a freshly disinfected inpatient room. Repeat samples from room surfaces and patients were taken on days 3 and 7 and each week the patient stayed in the same room. The bacterial identity, antibiotic susceptibility, and molecular sequences were compared between organisms found in the environment samples and patient sources. RESULTS: We enrolled 80 patient-room admissions; 9 of these patients (11.3%) were asymptomatically colonized with MDROs at study entry. Hospital room surfaces were contaminated with MDROs despite terminal disinfection in 44 cases (55%). Microbiological Bacterial Transfer events either to the patient, the environment, or both occurred in 12 patient encounters (18.5%) from the microbiologically evaluable cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Microbiological Bacterial Transfer events between patients and the environment were observed in 18.5% of patient encounters and occurred early in the admission. This study suggests that research on prevention methods beyond the standard practice of room disinfection at the end of a patient's stay is needed to better prevent acquisition of MDROs through the environment.
Authors: Brendan J Kelly; Selamawit Bekele; Sean Loughrey; Elizabeth Huang; Pam Tolomeo; Michael Z David; Ebbing Lautenbach; Jennifer H Han; Matthew J Ziegler Journal: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol Date: 2021-08-24 Impact factor: 6.520
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Authors: Clare Rock; Yea Jen Hsu; Melanie S Curless; Karen C Carroll; Tracy Ross Howard; Kathryn A Carson; Stephanie Cummings; Michael Anderson; Aaron M Milstone; Lisa L Maragakis Journal: Clin Infect Dis Date: 2022-08-24 Impact factor: 20.999
Authors: Jennie H Kwon; Kimberly Reske; Caroline A O'Neil; Candice Cass; Sondra Seiler; Meghan A Wallace; Tiffany Hink; Stephen Y Liang; Victoria J Fraser; Carey-Ann D Burnham; Erik R Dubberke Journal: Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol Date: 2020-01-23 Impact factor: 3.254
Authors: Valentina Dazio; Aurélien Nigg; Janne S Schmidt; Michael Brilhante; Edgar I Campos-Madueno; Nico Mauri; Stefan P Kuster; Stefanie Gobeli Brawand; Barbara Willi; Andrea Endimiani; Vincent Perreten; Simone Schuller Journal: One Health Date: 2021-08-31