Articles

The epidemiology of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii complex in Germany (2014–2018): an analysis of data from the national Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance system

Carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii complex (CRABC) has globally emerged as a serious public health challenge. This study aimed to describe epidemiological trends and risk factors of carbapenem resistanc...

Authors: Dunja Said, Niklas Willrich, Olaniyi Ayobami, Ines Noll, Tim Eckmanns and Robby Markwart

Systematic screening on admission for SARS-CoV-2 to detect asymptomatic infections

The proportion of asymptomatic carriers of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains elusive and the potential benefit of systematic screening during the SARS-CoV-2-pandemic is contr...

Authors: Rahel N. Stadler, Laura Maurer, Lisandra Aguilar-Bultet, Fabian Franzeck, Chantal Ruchti, Richard Kühl, Andreas F. Widmer, Ruth Schindler, Roland Bingisser, Katharina M. Rentsch, Hans Pargger, Raoul Sutter, Luzius Steiner, Christoph Meier, Werner Kübler, Hans H. Hirsch…

Taxonomy, virulence determinants and antimicrobial susceptibility of Aeromonas spp. isolated from bacteremia in southeastern China

The study aimed to elucidate the species taxonomy, clinical manifestations, virulence gene profiles and antimicrobial susceptibilities of Aeromonas strains isolated from life-threatening bacteremia in southeaster...

Authors: Yao Sun, Yajie Zhao, Wenya Xu, Renchi Fang, Qing Wu, Haokuang He, Chunquan Xu, Cui Zhou, Jianming Cao, Lijiang Chen and Tieli Zhou

A new model for COVID-19 control and its implementation in the city of Honghu, China: a case report

Novel coronavirus pneumonia has been the most serious worldwide public health emergency since being identified in December 2019. The rapid spread of the pandemic and the strong human to human infection rate of...

Authors: He-ran Wang, Meng-chun Gong, Jing-Yuan Sun, Jian Sun, Yi Guo, Li Liu and Hong Zhu

Clinical and microbiological characteristics of nosocomial, healthcare-associated, and community-acquired Klebsiella pneumoniae infections in Guangzhou, China

Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) is a common pathogen associated with hospital and community-onset infections. This study aimed to compare the clinical and microbiological characteristics of nosocomial, heal...

Authors: Tingting Le, Ling Wang, Chaoying Zeng, Leiwen Fu, Zhihua Liu and Jing Hu

Core components of infection prevention and control programs at the facility level in Georgia: key challenges and opportunities

The Georgia Ministry of Labor, Health, and Social Affairs is working to strengthen its Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) Program, but until recently has lacked an assessment of performance gaps and implem...

Authors: Anna Deryabina, Meghan Lyman, Daiva Yee, Marika Gelieshvilli, Lia Sanodze, Lali Madzgarashvili, Jamine Weiss, Claire Kilpatrick, Miriam Rabkin, Beth Skaggs and Amy Kolwaite

Management of a hospital-wide vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium outbreak in a Dutch general hospital, 2014–2017: successful control using a restrictive screening strategy

The emergence of vancomycin resistant enterococci poses a major problem in healthcare settings. Here we describe a hospital-wide outbreak of vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium in a general hospital in The ...

Authors: Veronica Weterings, Anita van Oosten, Ellen Nieuwkoop, Jolande Nelson, Andreas Voss, Bas Wintermans, Joris van Lieshout, Jan Kluytmans and Jacobien Veenemans

Vaginal colonization with antimicrobial-resistant bacteria among women in labor in central Uganda: prevalence and associated factors

According to WHO ( CISMAC. Centre for Intervention Science in Maternal and Child health), the antimicrobial resistant bacteria considered to be clinically most important for human health and earmarked for sur...

Authors: Josephine Tumuhamye, Hans Steinsland, Freddie Bwanga, James K. Tumwine, Grace Ndeezi, David Mukunya, Olive Namugga, Agnes Napyo Kasede, Halvor Sommerfelt and Victoria Nankabirwa

Emergence of nosocomial associated opportunistic pathogens in the gut microbiome after antibiotic treatment

According to the Centers for Disease Control’s 2015 Hospital Acquired Infection Hospital Prevalence Survey, 1 in 31 hospital patients was infected with at least one nosocomial pathogen while being treated for ...

Authors: Isaac Raplee, Lacey Walker, Lei Xu, Anil Surathu, Ashok Chockalingam, Sharron Stewart, Xiaomei Han, Rodney Rouse and Zhihua Li

NeoCLEAN: a multimodal strategy to enhance environmental cleaning in a resource-limited neonatal unit

Contamination of the hospital environment contributes to neonatal bacterial colonization and infection. Cleaning of hospital surfaces and equipment is seldom audited in resource-limited settings.

Authors: A. Dramowski, M. Aucamp, A. Bekker, S. Pillay, K. Moloto, A. C. Whitelaw, M. F. Cotton and S. Coffin

Systematic review on use, cost and clinical efficacy of automated decontamination devices

More evidence is emerging on the role of surface decontamination for reducing hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Timely and adequate removal of environmental pathogens leads to measurable clinical benefit in b...

Authors: Stephanie J. Dancer and Marco-Felipe King

Ultraviolet disinfection robots to improve hospital cleaning: Real promise or just a gimmick?

The global COVID-19 pandemic due to the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has challenged the availability of traditional surface disinfectants. It has also stimulated the production of ultraviolet-disinfection robo...

Authors: Magda Diab-El Schahawi, Walter Zingg, Margreet Vos, Hilary Humphreys, Lorena Lopez-Cerero, Astrid Fueszl, Jean Ralph Zahar and Elisabeth Presterl

A road-map for addressing antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries: lessons learnt from the public private participation and co-designed antimicrobial stewardship programme in the State of Kerala, India

The global concern over antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is gathering pace. Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are at the epicentre of this growing public health threat and governmental and healthcare orga...

Authors: Sanjeev Singh, Esmita Charani, Sarada Devi, Anuj Sharma, Fabia Edathadathil, Anil Kumar, Anup Warrier, P. S. Shareek, A. V. Jaykrishnan and K. Ellangovan

Sustainable neonatal CLABSI surveillance: consensus towards new criteria in the Netherlands

Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) are a main focus of infection prevention and control initiatives in neonatal care. Standardised surveillance of neonatal CLABSI enables intra- and interf...

Authors: I. E. Heijting, T. A. J. Antonius, A. Tostmann, W. P. de Boode, M. Hogeveen and J. Hopman

Efficacy of a coordinated strategy for containment of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria carriage in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the context of an active surveillance program

Antimicrobial resistance in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) patients is a threat, due to the frequent use of antimicrobial treatment and invasive devices in fragile babies. Since 2014 an active surveillanc...

Authors: Laura Saporito, Giorgio Graziano, Federica Mescolo, Emanuele Amodio, Vincenzo Insinga, Grazia Rinaudo, Aurora Aleo, Celestino Bonura, Marcello Vitaliti, Giovanni Corsello, Francesco Vitale, Carmelo Massimo Maida and Mario Giuffrè

Impact of targeted educational intervention towards public knowledge and perception of antibiotic use and resistance in the state of Perak, Malaysia

Antibiotic resistance is a major public health concern, accelerated by antibiotic overuse. Inadequate knowledge among the public has been associated with inappropriate use of antibiotics. This study determined...

Authors: Kah Shuen Thong, Chee Tao Chang, Ming Lee, Jason Choong Yin Lee, Hoo Seng Tan and Asrul Akmal Shafie

Effects of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on antimicrobial prevalence and prescribing in a tertiary hospital in Singapore

The deployment of antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic can lead to a loss of developed frameworks, best practices and leadership resulting in adverse impact on antimicrobial...

Authors: Tat Ming Ng, Sock Hoon Tan, Shi Thong Heng, Hui Lin Tay, Min Yi Yap, Boon Hou Chua, Christine B. Teng, David C. Lye and Tau Hong Lee

Cutibacterium avidum resists surgical skin antisepsis in the groin—a potential risk factor for periprosthetic joint infection: a quality control study

The skin commensal Cutibacterium avidum has been recognized as an emerging pathogen for periprosthetic joint infections (PJI). One currently assumes that the early occurring PJIs are a consequence of skin commens...

Authors: Steven M. Maurer, Laura Kursawe, Stefan Rahm, Julia Prinz, Annelies S. Zinkernagel, Annette Moter, Stefan P. Kuster, Reinhard Zbinden, Patrick O. Zingg and Yvonne Achermann

Bacterial contamination of neonatal intensive care units: How safe are the neonates?

Intensive care units (ICU) are essential healthcare facility for life threatening conditions. Bacterial contamination of objects/instruments in ICU is an important source of nosocomial infections. This study i...

Authors: Dharm Raj Bhatta, Supram Hosuru Subramanya, Deependra Hamal, Rajani Shrestha, Eva Gauchan, Sahisnuta Basnet, Niranjan Nayak and Shishir Gokhale

Emergency ward ultrasound: clinical audit on disinfection practices during routine and sterile examinations

In the emergency ward, where the use of ultrasound is common (including for sterile procedures), ward equipment is constantly exposed to high risks of microbiological contamination. There are no clear guidelin...

Authors: A. Andolfo, R. Maatoug, N. Peiffer-Smadja, C. Fayolle and K. Blanckaert

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of bacteria isolated from cerebrospinal fluid among children with bacterial meningitis in China from 2016 to 2018: a multicenter retrospective study

Pediatric bacterial meningitis (PBM) remains a devastating disease that causes substantial neurological morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, there are few large-scale studies on the pathogens causing PB...

Authors: Xiaoshan Peng, Qingxiong Zhu, Jing Liu, Mei Zeng, Yue Qiu, Chunhui Zhu, Yibing Cheng, Yibo Zhou, Yi Xu, Minxia Chen, Zhengwang Wen, Yiping Chen, Rui Li, Jianning Tong, Qingwen Shan, Daojiong Lin…

Simultaneous detection and ribotyping of Clostridioides difficile, and toxin gene detection directly on fecal samples

Clostridioides difficile is the most common cause of nosocomial diarrhea. Ribotyping of cultured strains by a PCR-based test is used to study potential transmission between patients. We aimed to develop a rapid t...

Authors: Tessel M. van Rossen, Joffrey van Prehn, Alex Koek, Marcel Jonges, Robin van Houdt, Rosa van Mansfeld, Ed J. Kuijper, Christina M. J. E. Vandenbroucke-Grauls and Andries E. Budding

Infections and antimicrobial resistance in intensive care units in lower-middle income countries: a scoping review

Intensive care units (ICUs) in lower-middle income countries (LMICs) are suspected to constitute a special risk for patients of acquiring infection due to multiple antibiotic resistant organisms. The aim of th...

Authors: Yulia Rosa Saharman, Anis Karuniawati, Juliëtte A. Severin and Henri A. Verbrugh

Antimicrobial multidrug resistance in the era of COVID-19: a forgotten plight?

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global problem to which the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may further contribute. With resources deployed away from antimicrobial stewardship, evidence of substantial pr...

Authors: Eric Pelfrene, Radu Botgros and Marco Cavaleri

Enhancing engagement beyond the conference walls: analysis of Twitter use at #ICPIC2019 infection prevention and control conference

Social media may provide a tool, when coupled with a patient-included™ conference, to enhance the engagement among the general public. We describe authors and potential readers of Twitter content surrounding a...

Authors: Romain Martischang, Ermira Tartari, Claire Kilpatrick, Graham Mackenzie, Vanessa Carter, Enrique Castro-Sánchez, Hilda Márquez-Villarreal, Jonathan A. Otter, Eli Perencevich, Denise Silber, Julie Storr, Jason Tetro, Andreas Voss and Didier Pittet

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia bacteremia in children: risk factors and mortality rate

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia (S. maltophilia) is an opportunistic and nosocomial pathogen that can cause an invasive and fatal infection, particularly in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients. However, litt...

Authors: Mohammed Alsuhaibani, Alanoud Aljarbou, Sahar Althawadi, Abdulrahman Alsweed and Sami Al-Hajjar

Carriage of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in a high-density informal settlement in Kenya is associated with environmental risk-factors

The relationship between antibiotic use and antimicrobial resistance varies with cultural, socio-economic, and environmental factors. We examined these relationships in Kibera, an informal settlement in Nairob...

Authors: Sylvia Omulo, Eric T. Lofgren, Svetlana Lockwood, Samuel M. Thumbi, Godfrey Bigogo, Alice Ouma, Jennifer R. Verani, Bonventure Juma, M. Kariuki Njenga, Samuel Kariuki, Terry F. McElwain, Guy H. Palmer and Douglas R. Call

Comparison of the antimicrobial efficacy of povidone-iodine-alcohol versus chlorhexidine-alcohol for surgical skin preparation on the aerobic and anaerobic skin flora of the shoulder region

Cutibacterium acnes is part of the anaerobic skin microbiome and resides in deeper skin layers. The organism is an agent of surgical site infections (SSI) in shoulder surgery. We hypothesized that prolonged skin ...

Authors: Dorothea Dörfel, Matthias Maiwald, Georg Daeschlein, Gerald Müller, Robert Hudek, Ojan Assadian, Günter Kampf, Thomas Kohlmann, Julian Camill Harnoss and Axel Kramer

Bloodstream infections caused by ST2 Acinetobacter baumannii: risk factors, antibiotic regimens, and virulence over 6 years period in China

Bloodstream infection (BSI) caused by multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) has been increasingly observed among hospitalized patients. The following study analyzed the epidemiology and microbiolog...

Authors: Kaihang Yu, Weiliang Zeng, Ye Xu, Wenli Liao, Wenya Xu, Tieli Zhou, Jianming Cao and Lijiang Chen

Antibiotic prescribing in inpatient and outpatient settings in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis study

Antibiotic prescribing is common worldwide. There are several original studies about antibiotic prescribing in the healthcare setting of Iran reporting different levels of prescribing. The aim of this systemat...

Authors: Ehsan Nabovati, Zhila TaherZadeh, Saeid Eslami, Ameen Abu-Hanna and Reza Abbasi

Exploring determinants of hand hygiene compliance in LTCFs: a qualitative study using Flottorps’ integrated checklist of determinants of practice

Elderly residents in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) are vulnerable to healthcare-associated infections. Although hand hygiene is a leading measure for preventing infection, the compliance of healthcare work...

Authors: Dominique Lescure, Anja Haenen, Sabine de Greeff, Andreas Voss, Anita Huis and Marlies Hulscher

Non-prescription dispensing of antibiotic agents among community drug retail outlets in Sub-Saharan African countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis

The development of antimicrobial resistance, which is partially attributable to the overuse and/or misuse of antibiotics in health care, is one of the greatest global public health challenges. In Sub-Saharan A...

Authors: Sewunet Admasu Belachew, Lisa Hall and Linda A. Selvey

Compliance with antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines in caesarean delivery: a retrospective, drug utilization study (indication-prescription type) at an Ecuadorian hospital

Preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis is essential for preventing surgical site infection (SSI). The aim of this study was to evaluate compliance with international and local recommendations in caesarean deliver...

Authors: Katherine Romero Viamonte, Adrian Salvent Tames, Rosa Sepúlveda Correa, María Victoria Rojo Manteca and Ana Martín-Suárez

Bacterial but no SARS-CoV-2 contamination after terminal disinfection of tertiary care intensive care units treating COVID-19 patients

In intensive care units (ICUs) treating patients with Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) invasive ventilation poses a high risk for aerosol and droplet formation. Surface contamination of severe acute respira...

Authors: Daniel A. Hofmaenner, Pedro David Wendel Garcia, Branko Duvnjak, Bhavya Chakrakodi, Julian D. Maier, Michael Huber, Jon Huder, Aline Wolfensberger, Peter W. Schreiber, Reto A. Schuepbach, Annelies S. Zinkernagel, Philipp K. Buehler and Silvio D. Brugger

Contradictions in the promotion of publishing academic and scientific journal articles, and the inability to cope with the new coronavirus (COVID-19)

Translating research into practice is a central priority within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Roadmap. The underlying aim of the NIH Roadmap is to accelerate the movement of scientific findings into ...

Authors: Rostam Jalali, Amin Hosseinian-Far and Masoud Mohammadi

Characterization of florfenicol resistance genes in the coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (CoNS) isolates and genomic features of a multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus lentus strain H29

With the wide use of florfenicol to prevent and treat the bacterial infection of domestic animals, the emergence of the florfenicol resistance bacteria is increasingly serious. It is very important to elucidat...

Authors: Chongyang Wu, Xueya Zhang, Jialei Liang, Qiaoling Li, Hailong Lin, Chaoqin Lin, Hongmao Liu, Danying Zhou, Wei Lu, Zhewei Sun, Xi Lin, Hailin Zhang, Kewei Li, Teng Xu, Qiyu Bao and Junwan Lu

The Clean pilot study: evaluation of an environmental hygiene intervention bundle in three Tanzanian hospitals

Healthcare associated infections (HAI) are estimated to affect up to 15% of hospital inpatients in low-income countries (LICs). A critical but often neglected aspect of HAI prevention is basic environmental hy...

Authors: Giorgia Gon, Abdunoor M. Kabanywanyi, Petri Blinkhoff, Simon Cousens, Stephanie J. Dancer, Wendy J. Graham, Joseph Hokororo, Fatuma Manzi, Tanya Marchant, Dickson Mkoka, Emma Morrison, Sarah Mswata, Shefali Oza, Loveday Penn-Kekana, Yovitha Sedekia, Sandra Virgo…

Nosocomial transmission and outbreaks of coronavirus disease 2019: the need to protect both patients and healthcare workers

To compile current published reports on nosocomial outbreaks of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), evaluate the role of healthcare workers (HCWs) in transmission, and evaluate outbre...

Authors: Mohamed Abbas, Tomás Robalo Nunes, Romain Martischang, Walter Zingg, Anne Iten, Didier Pittet and Stephan Harbarth

Impact of replacing powdered gloves with powder-free gloves on hand-hygiene compliance among healthcare workers of an intensive care unit: a quasi-experimental study

After wearing powdered gloves, healthcare workers (HCW) are supposed to wash their hands instead of using alcohol-based hand-rub (ABHR). Washing hands takes longer than using ABHR, and the use of powdered glov...

Authors: Mayra Gonçalves Menegueti, Fernando Bellissimo-Rodrigues, Marcia A. Ciol, Maria Auxiliadora-Martins, Anibal Basile-Filho, Silvia Rita Marin da Silva Canini, Elucir Gir and Ana Maria Laus

Economic burden of antibiotic resistance in China: a national level estimate for inpatients

Antibiotic resistance (AR) threats public health in China. National-level estimation of economic burden of AR is lacking. We aimed to quantify the economic costs of AR in inpatients in China.

Authors: Xuemei Zhen, Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg, Xueshan Sun, Nina Zhu, Shuyan Gu and Hengjin Dong

Impact of environmental cleaning on the colonization and infection rates of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii in patients within the intensive care unit in a tertiary hospital

To continuously evaluate the effect of environmental cleaning and hand hygiene compliance on the colonization and infection rates of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) in the patients within an ...

Authors: Yang Li, Hai Ge, Hui Zhou, Wanqing Zhou, Jie Zheng, Wei Chen and Xiaoli Cao

Understanding antibiotic use for pig farming in Thailand: a qualitative study

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), recognised as a serious and growing threat to global health, is promoted by multiple drivers, including antibiotic use in the livestock sector. Thus, understanding factors influ...

Authors: Angkana Lekagul, Viroj Tangcharoensathien, Marco Liverani, Anne Mills, Jonathan Rushton and Shunmay Yeung

Caretaker knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) and carriage of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing E. coli (ESBL-EC) in children in Quito, Ecuador

The rapid spread of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing E. coli (ESBL-EC) is an urgent global health threat. We examined child caretaker knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) towards proper antimicrobi...

Authors: Rachel Marusinec, Kathleen M. Kurowski, Heather K. Amato, Carlos Saraiva-Garcia, Fernanda Loayza, Liseth Salinas, Gabriel Trueba and Jay P. Graham

Investigation and control of an outbreak of urinary tract infections caused by Burkholderia cepacian-contaminated anesthetic gel

This report describes an outbreak of 71 patients developed B. cepacia urinary tract infection (UTI) by contaminated single-use anesthetic gel.

Authors: Mingmei Du, Linjian Song, Yan Wang, Jijiang Suo, Yanling Bai, Yubin Xing, Lijun Xie, Bowei Liu, Lu Li, Yanping Luo and Yunxi Liu

Antimicrobial prophylaxis administration after umbilical cord clamping in cesarean section and the risk of surgical site infection: a cohort study with 55,901 patients

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends administration of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) in cesarean section prior to incision to prevent surgical site infections (SSI). This study aimed to de...

Authors: Rami Sommerstein, Jonas Marschall, Andrew Atkinson, Daniel Surbek, Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello, Nicolas Troillet and Andreas F. Widmer

Scientific evidence supports aerosol transmission of SARS-COV-2

Authors: C. Raina MacIntyre and Michelle R. Ananda-Rajah

Evaluation of the health and healthcare system burden due to antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli infections in humans: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Assessment of the burden of disease due to antimicrobial-resistant Escherichia coli infections facilitates understanding the scale of the problem and potential impacts, and comparison to other diseases, which all...

Authors: M. C. MacKinnon, J. M. Sargeant, D. L. Pearl, R. J. Reid-Smith, C. A. Carson, E. J. Parmley and S. A. McEwen

Adherence to personal protective equipment use among healthcare workers caring for confirmed COVID-19 and alleged non-COVID-19 patients

Adherence observations of health care workers (HCW) revealed deficiencies in the use of recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) among HCW caring in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards during the first peri...

Authors: Meike M. Neuwirth, Frauke Mattner and Robin Otchwemah

Prevalence and molecular characteristics of ESBL and AmpC β -lactamase producing Enterobacteriaceae strains isolated from UTIs in Egypt

Infections caused by Enterobacteriaceae are mainly treated with the β-lactam antibiotics, nevertheless, the emergence of species with plasmid-borne β-lactamases has decreased the efficacy of these antibiotics. Th...

Authors: Ebtisam S. Mohamed, Rasha M. M. Khairy and Soha S. Abdelrahim

Keeping PPE barriers in COVID-19 wards while doing proper auscultation

The emerging COVID-19 pandemic poses many difficulties to medical professionals. One of them is the need to use personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to protect themselves and their families, while not ...

Authors: Einat Seidel, Shahar Luski, Yaarit Ribak, Ahmed Nama, Takeshi Saraya, Toshiaki Nishiyama, Yonatan Oster and Ran Nir-Paz