The recent trend in the early admittance to long-term care facilities (LTCFs) of severely injured patients transferred from general hospitals has given a new dynamic to the incidence of healthcare-associated infections, including biofilm-based infections related to the implant of urinary and intravascular catheters, and the onset of pressure ulcers. Catheter-associated urinary tract infections lead in most of the surveys on LTCFs, approximately 80% of urinary tract infections in these settings being due to the short- or long-term insertion of a urinary catheter. Furthermore, the implantation of intravascular catheters is often responsible for catheter-related bloodstream infections caused by the development of an intraluminal biofilm. Pressure ulcers, frequently occurring in bedridden patients admitted to LTCFs, are also susceptible to infection by biofilm-growing aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, the biofilm formation on the wound being the main reason for its delayed healing.
Written by:
Donelli G, Vuotto C. Are you the author?
IRCSS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Microbial Biofilm Laboratory, Rome, Italy.
Reference: Future Microbiol. 2014 Feb;9(2):175-88.
doi: 10.2217/fmb.13.149
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 24571072
