MRSA Infection

UMF cloths more effective in MRSA cleaning than J Cloths

Report favours UMF cloths to traditional J Cloths for eradicating healthcare acquired infections - HES.

AS PART of the ongoing fight to stamp out healthcare acquired infections (HCAIs), a study has shown that Ultramicrofibre (UMF) cloths are significantly more effective than J Cloths in removing harmful bacteria from hospital surfaces. The research was carried out by University College Hospital’s department of microbiology in a bid to come up with an alternative to classic cloth-based cleaning, which requires disinfectants known to be harmful to health and which can degrade the built environment.

New MRSA strains shrug off Vancomycin

Notes from Dr. RW: Treating MRSA: will vancomycin let you down?.

How can you know? Look at the susceptability data. Higher MICs, even in the susceptability range, may warn of treatment failure. Here are some papers mentioned at SHM 2009: In MRSA bacteremia vancomycin MICs of 1.5 or greater were associated with a 36.4% treatment failure rate. This paper showed an atypically high failure rate in bacteremic patients regardless of the MIC, and a virtual guarantee of failure for MICs above 1. For MRSA isolates with vancomycin MICs less than 0.5 µg/ml, vancomycin was 55.6% successful in the treatment of bacteremia whereas vancomycin was only 9.5% effective in cases in which vancomycin MICs for MRSA were 1 to 2 µg/ml. This paper showed higher mortality in MRSA bacteremia treated with vancomycin when the MIC was above 1.

Skin sealant protects new mums from MRSA

Breakthrough protects new moms from infection - 12/16/09 - Chicago News - abc7chicago.com.

The last thing a new mother needs to worry about after delivering a baby via cesarean section is a surgical site infection. Now some doctors are using a new sealant that acts as a microbial barrier to reduce the risk of surgical site contamination. The sealant works by forming protective barrier that seals and immobilizes areas where bacteria can grow. The barrier prevents bacteria from creeping into the incision and works like crazy glue. It's a fast-drying liquid that bonds to the skin and locks down bacteria that are deep within the skin and those that survived preoperative prepping. In clinical trials, the sealant has been shown to seal and immobilize harmful pathogens including MRSA, S. epidermis and E. coli. The sealant is applied to the skin after surgery prep and before the incision is made. The sealant is non-irritating and does not need to be removed in order to close the incision. After surgery, the sealant wears off naturally within a few days.

Washable keyboards help cut cost of MRSA Infection Control

Unotron's Affordable Washable Computer Keyboards and Mice Blunt Exorbitant Expenses of One Superbug Infection as Reported by Duke Research - Yahoo! Finance.

There’s now a strong financial reason for health care organizations to introduce our reasonably priced products, given the Duke report of seven hospitals and health facilities which shows that taking action, even expensive action, to fight infections can save money,” says Joseph Carabello, CEO of Unotron. (www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0008305) Carabello also cites several separate studies which confirmed disinfection procedures of Unotron’s patented SpillSeal® washable computer keyboards and reported that a kill rate of 100 percent can be achieved using disinfectant spray products.

2000% increase in Prison MRSA

MRSA Cases in California Skyrocket.

Cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections (MRSA) increased four-fold in California hospitals between 1999 and 2007 to 52,000 cases, according to a new state report, which also suggests the annual number of MRSA deaths are 3.2 times more than estimates for seasonal influenza. The report was issued by the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development using hospital patient discharge data. The largest increase in MRSA cases came in young to mid-range adult aged patients, who were admitted from home with infections of the skin. The report said that by patient group, the biggest increase in resistant strains of the bacteria over that eight-year period was attributed to patients admitted to hospitals from prisons or jails, which saw a greater than 2000% increase. Also contributing to the rise was a 540% increase in newborns with resistant strains and a 120% increase in MRSA admissions from long-term care facilities.

Light activated MRSA killers could help with medical devices

Antimicrobial Properties of Light-activated Polyurethane Containing Indocyanine Green -- Perni et al., 10.1177/0885328209352701 -- Journal of Biomaterials Applications.

When exposed to laser light from the near infrared spectrum (808 nm), polyurethane-containing ICG exhibited antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria; a 2 log10 reduction was achieved against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Staphylococcus epidermidis after 15 min exposure, corresponding to an energy dose of 31.83 J delivered at an energy density of 31.83 J/cm2. Under the same conditions, Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) appeared to be less susceptible, the viable count being reduced by 0.5 log10. Some of the physical properties of the resulting material were also investigated and it was found that the elasticity (Young’s modulus) was reduced by approximately 60%. Furthermore, when the ICG-containing polymer was stretched, the breaking point occurred when the elongation was 6.7 times the initial value, while ICG-free polyurethane samples did not break following a 7-fold elongation. The contact angles for water droplets revealed that the ICG-containing polymer was more hydrophobic than untreated polyurethane. The results of this study show that ICG can be embedded in polyurethane to produce materials which when irradiated with near-infrared light can exert a bactericidal effect particularly against MRSA and S. epidermidis. Such materials may be useful for preparing intravenous catheters, which are often colonized by such organisms.

Jewish quietly drops suit against infection lawyers

Jewish quietly drops suit against lawyers | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal.

Seeking to defend Jewish Hospital’s reputation, officials with its parent company struck back in 2007 against two lawyers who had filed, and later dropped, nearly 100 lawsuits alleging unsanitary practices at the hospital led to dangerous patient infections. In an unusual move, Jewish filed its own suit against the lawyers, which spokesman Jeff Polson vowed at the time would “hold the plaintiffs’ attorneys accountable for the false allegations levied against our organization” and “publicly defend our quality of care.” But Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare has quietly dropped that suit against trial lawyers Joe White and Mike O’Connell, now the Jefferson County attorney, without collecting any damages or an apology from either lawyer.

MRSA Germs and Poker Rooms

PokerNews Op-Ed: Germs and Poker Rooms | PokerNews.

“You can get sick from poker chips,” Dr. Stillman explained. “It's actually been studied across multiple casinos. The most common infection is Staph (Staphylococcus aureus). The real scary one is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) because it's just that -- resistant to the main antibiotic used to treat it. We take all kinds of precautions in the hospital to prevent the spread of MRSA. MRSA killed more people in America than AIDS in 2005!” According to The Journal of the American Medical Association, “Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was responsible for an estimated 94,000 life-threatening infections and 18,650 deaths in 2005. That same year, roughly 16,000 people in the U.S. died from AIDS.”

Studies find copper may help protect against MRSA and other hospital superbugs

Studies find copper may help protect against MRSA and other hospital superbugs.

The Journal of Hospital Infection is set to publish three papers in its January issue that discuss new research about the antimicrobial properties of copper. Studies are showing that copper is highly resistant to bacteria and that it may be a viable biocide to use in hospitals where superbugs like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) run rampant. Researchers from University Hospital Birmingham discovered that toilet and bathroom surfaces that were replaced with copper components had 90 to 100 percent fewer live bacteria living on them than did conventional surfaces. A health-care facility in Western Cape, South Africa saw similar results on their copper-overlaid surfaces, noting a 71-percent reduction in microbial contamination versus the other surfaces.

Nurse-patient relationships can reduce infections

Nurse-patient relationships can reduce infections | News | Nursing Times.

Nurses are being urged to use the close relationships they form with patients to help make them feel more at ease about challenging other staff about hand hygiene. The advice is being issued in light of evidence suggesting that a national campaign has made little difference to the number of patients asking staff to clean their hands. Fewer than half - 47 per cent - of respondents to a survey assessing the Clean Your Hands campaign said it had encouraged patients to confront staff 18 months after it was launched, compared with 46 per cent six months after rollout.

New MRSA Objective Reflects NHS Zero Tolerance Approach To Infections

New MRSA Objective Reflects NHS Zero Tolerance Approach To Infections, UK.

A new MRSA objective will focus progress on Trusts that need to improve the most, Health Minister Ann Keen announced yesterday. From April 2010, the MRSA objective will be applied to all NHS organisations to ensure patients receive clean safe care across the whole NHS. In November 2004, the Department set the NHS a national target of reducing MRSA bloodstream infections by 50% and the latest quarterly figures show that nationally there has been a 76% reduction. The new objective will require organisations with the highest rates to make the biggest reductions and challenge the best performers to sustain their low rates and strive for further reductions where possible.

Fatty Food Can Weaken the Immune System

Fatty Food Can Weaken the Immune System.

Fresh evidence that fatty food is bad for our health has come to light: mice fed a lard-based diet over a long period got worse at fighting bacteria in the blood, reveals a thesis from the Sahlgrenska Academy. The mice fed the lard-based diet derived 60 per cent of their total calories from fat. They were compared with mice fed a low-fat diet, where no more than 10 percent of their calories came from fat. As expected, the mice on the high-fat diet got fatter. A more surprising result was that their immune system was less active. The white blood cells got worse at dealing with bacteria in the blood, which could have contributed to many dying of sepsis.

New Research Shows Patients Have Role in Promoting Hand Hygiene Among Clinicians

New Research Shows Patients Have Role in Promoting Hand Hygiene Among Clinicians.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Catholic Healthcare Partners (CHP) and the Premier healthcare alliance today released research showing that a video can be an effective tool for encouraging patients to remind healthcare staff to wash their hands. The research tested the effectiveness of a CDC video called “Hand Hygiene Saves Lives.” The video encourages patients, family and visitors to play a role in their own care by helping healthcare professionals remember to clean their hands before and after touching patients. After the video was shown to patients in 17 CHP facilities, patients were twice as likely to report reminding nurses to wash their hands, and doctors were twice as likely to report being asked by patients to wash their hands.

New antibiotic for MRSA touted

Rib-X Pharmaceuticals Enters into Collaborative Agreement on Delafloxacin.

Under the science plan for the collaboration, Dr. David Hooper of MGH will evaluate Rib-X's novel fluoroquinolone, delafloxacin, in an established animal model to determine resistance development and to validate the activity and mechanism of action of delafloxacin against microorganisms such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). "Treating infections that are resistant to the antibiotics currently available to us has become increasingly challenging," Dr. Hooper said. "We are interested to learn more about the unusual properties of this specific drug relative to other members of its class and its potential effect on controlling difficult and dangerous infections." Delafloxacin, which is ready to enter Phase 3 clinical trials, is a novel, broad-spectrum, next-generation fluoroquinolone, that has demonstrated better activity than other quinolones against Gram-positive bacteria, including isolates of MRSA that are quinolone-resistant.

Case against MRSA Jail dismissed

WHMI 93.5 FM Radio Station for Livingston County Michigan with News, Traffic, and Weather Service for Howell and Brighton.

A lawsuit filed against Livingston County and Sheriff Bob Bezotte has been dismissed. Mark Bowers filed suit in U.S. District Court alleging jail administrators failed to provide medical care when he contracted the MRSA bacteria while incarcerated in the Livingston County Jail from mid-2007 to early 2008. However, on Friday U.S. District Court Judge Bernard Friedman granted a motion by the county to dismiss the lawsuit, saying Bowers had failed to prove the MRSA bacteria posed a substantial risk of serious harm to their health. In his decision, Friedman said that from 2004 to 2008, there were 37 known cases of MRSA in the jail, a rate he found did not demonstrate an “…intolerable' risk to inmates' health." He also ruled that Bezotte had taken reasonable steps to avert unnecessary harm, and thus wasn’t liable. Because the sheriff was dismissed, the court ruled that the county also had to be dismissed. (JK)

Mandatory hand washing in schools cuts infection - why not hospitals?

Controversies in Hospital Infection Prevention: Why can't we do this in hospitals?.

Wouldn't it be interesting if we could get all health care workers to wash their hands when they come to work, before lunch and before they go home? We could at least be sure that they all washed their hands 3x/day! Would it work? Who knows, but a study done in Denmark by Inge Nandrup-Bus did just that in school children ages 5-15 (AJIC December 2009) and reported significant reductions in absenteeism in the intervention school versus the control school during a wintertime 3-month pilot study. Now, I have some issues with the methods (you can't really randomize only two hospitals, for instance), but all pilot studies can be criticized. At the intervention school all pupils were required to wash their hands when they arrived, before lunch and before they left school for home. All students in the intervention also received 2 lessons in theoretical and practical hand hygiene. Each sink hand a poster above it with proper step-by-step techniques displayed and all students were tracked for 5 types of absenteeism: URI, GI infection, skin infection, other infections and non-infectious reasons. The multivariate analysis showed that the intervention was associated with fewer absences (0.97 vs. 1.24 periods) and fewer days missed (1.95 vs. 2.65 days).

One mrsa infection costs hospital $60,000

One superbug infection costs hospital $60,000: study | Reuters.

Their study of seven hospitals and health facilities shows that taking action, even expensive action, to fight infections can save money, the researchers at Duke University in North Carolina said.  "Our estimates of the financial burden of surgical site infections due to MRSA are unique," Deverick Anderson of Duke University Medical Center and colleagues wrote. "Surgical site infections due to MRSA led to a 7-fold increased risk of death, a 35-fold increased risk of hospital readmission, more than 3 weeks of additional hospitalization, and more than $60,000 of additional charges compared to uninfected controls."

Syntiron edge closer to MRSA Vaccine

EXCLUSIVE: Syntiron scores major vaccine deal with Sanofi Pasteur : MedCity News.

Minnesota–Syntiron LLC, a biotech start-up, has signed a $149 million licensing deal with Sanofi Pasteur in Lyon, France to develop a vaccine against so-called “super bugs,” bacteria that have become resistant to antibiotics. Under the agreement, Syntiron and Sanofi Pasteur, the world’s largest vaccine maker, will jointly create a vaccine to combat Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which causes deadly staph infections in hospitals and other health care settings. The goal is to start selling the vaccine in the United States and Europe in three years,

Pomegranate an MRSA infection killer?

Pomegranate rind, metal salts and Vitamin C: An effective combination for treating MRSA infection.

Pomegranates have already been hailed as a super-food but a team of scientists from Kingston University in South West London has found a new use for the deep red fruit. The team, led by Professor Declan Naughton, has discovered that the rind can be turned into an ointment for treating MRSA and other common hospital infections. In a series of tests conducted over three years, Professor Naughton and researchers from the School of Life Sciences learnt that the infection-fighting properties of pomegranate were greatly enhanced by combining the rind of the fruit with two other natural products - metal salts and Vitamin C. "We have developed a topical ointment that can successfully attack a range of drug resistant microbes," Professor Naughton said.

Half of hospitals 'will have to significantly reduce MRSA rates next year'

Half of hospitals 'will have to significantly reduce MRSA rates next year' - Telegraph.

Half of all hospitals in England will have to significantly reduce MRSA rates next year as part of a crackdown on the potentially deadly superbug.  They have been told bring rates down to the national average or reduce the number of case by 20 per cent, whichever has the greater impact. Ministers are trying to tackle the worst performing hospitals, after successfully halving the overall number of cases across the country.  A report earlier this year from the National Audit Office showed that while rates of the hospital-acquired infections are falling across the country MRSA cases were actually rising in one in 10 hospital trusts.