A joint, multilateral approach to improve compliance with hand hygiene in 4 countries within the Baltic region using the World Health Organization's SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands model.

Background: The aim of this prospective multicenter study was to explore the usefulness of a modified World Health Organization (WHO) hand hygiene program to increase compliance with hand hygiene among health care workers (HCWs) in Latvia, Lithuania, Saint Petersburg (Russia), and Sweden and to provide a basis for continuing promotion of hand hygiene in these countries. The study was carried out in 2012. Thirteen hospitals participated, including 38 wards.

Nasal and hand carriage of Staphylococcus aureus in staff at a Department for Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery: endogenous or exogenous source?

Objective: To investigate the rates of Staphylococcus aureus carriage on the hands and in the noses of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the relatedness of S. aureus isolates found in the two sites.

Design: Point-prevalence study.

Mediastinitis after cardiac surgery: improvement of bacteriological diagnosis by use of multiple tissue samples and strain typing.

The diagnosis of postsurgical mediastinitis (PSM) among patients with sternal wound complication (SWC) after cardiac surgery is sometimes difficult, as fever, elevated C-reactive protein levels, and chest pain can be caused by a general inflammatory reaction to the operative trauma and/or sternal dehiscence without infection. The definitions of PSM usually used emphasize clinical signs and symptoms easily observed by the surgeon. The aim of the study was to investigate whether the use of standardized multiple tissue sampling, optimal culturing methods, and strain typing, together with a microbiological criterion for infection, could identify more infected patients than clinical assessment alone.