PURPOSE: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an unusual uropathogen that is mostly responsible for nosocomial or catheter associated urinary tract infections in adults.

During the last decade, ventricular assist devices (VADs) have become a precious tool to support children with end-stage heart failure.

The use of an indwelling urinary catheter comes with associated risks. At a hospital in southern California, nurses on the acute rehabilitation unit suspected their patients were arriving from acute care with undiagnosed urinary tract infections (UTIs).

Staff engagement and patient care are two key aspects of the healthcare system.

[Article in German]

Urinary tract infections (UTI) are among the most frequent bacterial infections in the community and health care setting.

BACKGROUND: Residents in long-term care facilities are predisposed to healthcare-associated infections that are likely caused by antimicrobial-resistant micro-organisms.

OBJECTIVES: Urinary tract infection (UTI) as a result of Candida spp. is becoming increasingly common in hospitalized setting.

OBJECTIVES: Transfusion of red blood cells is increasingly linked with adverse outcomes in critically ill children.

OBJECTIVES: To determine device-associated healthcare-associated infection (DA-HAI) rates and the microorganism profile in 398 intensive care units (ICUs) of 70 hospitals in Shanghai, China.

METHODS: An open-label, prospective, cohort, active DA-HAI surveillance study was conducted on patients admitted to 398 tertiary-care ICUs in China from September 2004 to December 2009, implementing the methodology developed by the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC). The data were collected in the participating ICUs, and uploaded and analyzed at the INICC headquarters on proprietary software. DA-HAI rates were registered by applying the definitions of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). We analyzed the rates of DAI-HAI, ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), and their microorganism profiles.

RESULTS: During the 5 years and 4 months of the study, 391 527 patients hospitalized in an ICU for an aggregate of 3,245,244 days, acquired 20,866 DA-HAIs, an overall rate of 5.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 5.3-5.4) and 6.4 (95% CI 6.3-6.5) infections per 1000 ICU-days. VAP posed the greatest risk (20.8 per 1000 ventilator-days, 95% CI 20.4-21.1), followed by CAUTI (6.4 per 1000 catheter-days, 95% CI 6.3-6.6) and CLABSI (3.1 per 1000 catheter-days, 95% CI 3.0-3.2). The most common isolated microorganism was Acinetobacter baumannii (19.1%), followed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (17.2%), Klebsiella pneumoniae (11.9%), and Staphylococcus aureus (11.9%).

CONCLUSIONS: DA-HAIs in the ICUs of Shanghai pose a far greater threat to patient safety than in ICUs in the USA. This is particularly the case for the VAP rate, which is much higher than the rates found in developed countries. Active infection control programs that carry out infection surveillance and implement prevention guidelines can improve patient safety and must become a priority.

Written by:
Tao L, Hu B, Rosenthal VD, Gao X, He L. Are you the author?
Department of Respiratory Medicine, Huadong Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

Reference: Int J Infect Dis. 2011 Nov;15(11):e774-80.
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2011.06.009,

PubMed Abstract
PMID: 21846591

PURPOSE: We evaluated the efficacy of a novel catheter with a trefoil profile to decrease urothelial irritation and delay catheter associated urinary tract infections by comparing it with a conventional catheter in the rabbit model.

BACKGROUND: Despite the well-recognized role of urinary catheters in nosocomial urinary tract infections, data on risk factors associated with inappropriate urinary catheter use are scarce.

BACKGROUND and OBJECTIVES: Catheter associated urinary tract infections are the second most common nosocomial infections and Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the third most common organism responsible for these infections.

[Article in Czech]

Nosocomial infections associated with biofilm formation have been a serious problem in recent years. Up to 32 % of them are urinary tract infections in patients with long-dwelling catheters.

To develop and validate an electronic surveillance tool for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs).

OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to register the incidence of scheduled and acute urinary catheter changes and rinses (acute interventions) among nursing home patients, to relate the incidence of acute interventions to catheter material and time of catheterization, and to register the use of antibiotics for catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

PURPOSE: Within the UK, there is lack of contemporary data on clinical outcomes in patients admitted to hospital with severe community acquired infection.

The national mandatory surveillance system for reporting meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteraemia in England has captured data on the source of reported bacteraemias since 2006.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to determine the rate of device-associated, health care-associated infection (DA-HAI), the excess in length of stay, the mortality, and the hand hygiene compliance in a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) and a neonatal ICU (NICU) in a hospital member of the International Infection Control Consortium (INICC) in El Salvador.

BACKGROUND: Acinetobacter species have become increasingly important nosocomial pathogens worldwide and can result in a wide range of infections, including bacteremia, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, peritonitis, among others.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate whether the use of silver-coated catheters increased the risk of developing urethral stricture disease after robotic-assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP).