Detecting pediatric nosocomial infections: how do infection control and quality assurance personnel compare?

Health Care–Associated Infection in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

•Handwashing is the most important means of preventing nosocomial infection. Each pediatric intensive care unit should develop programs to increase compliance with hand hygiene. •Nonessential invasive devices should be removed. Establish routines that require individual patient evaluation of device use daily. •Antimicrobial stewardship aims to minimize overexposure and unnecessary use of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are an increasing concern as a cause of hospital-acquired infection, requiring a multipronged approach to control that includes adherence to isolation procedures, appropriate use of antibiotics, educational interventions, prescribing guidelines, and restriction of the use of some antibiotics. •A comprehensive infection prevention and control program allied with organizational quality and patient safety programs is an essential strategy for minimizing hospital-acquired infections. Critical care teams should establish strong collaborative partnerships with the infection prevention and control service. •Parents and visitors should be made partners of the infection control team to help prevent infection in their children.

National prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in inpatients at US health care facilities, 2006

BACKGROUND

Despite methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) being endemic in virtually all US health care facilities, there are no data on the prevalence of MRSA in US health care facilities.

METHODS

We conducted a national prevalence survey of MRSA in inpatients at US health care facilities. The survey was developed, received institutional review board approval, and then distributed to all members of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC). Members were asked to complete the survey on one day during the period October 1 to November 16, 2006, reporting the number of inpatients with MRSA infection or colonization and facility-specific information.

RESULTS

Personnel at 1237 hospitals completed the survey. Complete facility data were provided for 1187 (96%) of these health care facilities. All states were represented (mean, 23 facilities per state; range, 1-99). Respondents reported 8654 MRSA-colonized/infected patients in 187,058 inpatients; the overall MRSA prevalence rate was 46.3 per 1000 inpatients (34 infections and 12 colonizations per 1000 inpatients). Active MRSA surveillance testing was conducted by 29% of respondents: 54% used routine media, 38% used selective media, and 8% used polymerase chain reaction. Detailed data were provided on 7994 (92.4%) MRSA-colonized/infected patients. Our data suggest that approximately 70% of isolates were more consistent with health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) than community-associated MRSA.

CONCLUSION

Our survey documents a much higher MRSA prevalence rate than previous studies using different methodologies. The majority of MRSA in inpatients appears to be HA-MRSA. Given that most facilities did not perform active surveillance testing, these are minimum estimates of the national burden of MRSA in US health care facilities.

Infection control, hospital epidemiology, and patient safety

Health care-acquired are a major risk for hospitalized children. Similar to adult patients, children are vulnerable to infections related to medical devices. Children also are at significant risk of nosocomial transmission of common pediatric viral illness, such as respiratory syncytial virus and varicella. In addition, pediatric patients have unique or incompletely developed immune system.