Risk factors for meningitis in neurosurgical patients with cerebrospinal fluid drains: prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage or intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring devices are life-saving devices. We examined the risk factors for infections related to them and assessed the effect of an infection control (IC) intervention.

Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in the Neurosurgical Department of our hospital between 2014 and 2017.

Rate of colonization of health care workers by carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae in an endemic hospital: A prospective study.

The role of health care workers in transmission of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) has not been evaluated thoroughly. We sought to determine the rate of fecal carriage of CRE among health care workers in our hospital, which is endemic for CRE (prevalence of 19 out of 800 beds and incidence of 128 out of 49,325 hospital admissions). We found no carriers among the 177 health care workers that participated in the study, suggesting that transmission does not occur through personnel gastrointestinal carriage of the bacteria.

Risk Factors for Recurrence of Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae Carriage: Case-Control Study.

Background: The natural history of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) carriage and the timing and procedures required to safely presume a CRE-free status are unclear.

Objective: To determine risk factors for recurrence of CRE among presumed CRE-free patients.

Methods: Case-control study including CRE carriers in whom CRE carriage presumably ended, following at least 2 negative screening samples on separate days.

Effect of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis on surgical site infections complicating cardiac surgery.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of an optimized policy for antibiotic prophylaxis on surgical site infection (SSI) rates in cardiac surgery.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Tertiary medical center in Israel.

Contamination of peripheral hematopoeitic stem cell products with a Mycobacterium mucogenicum-related pathogen.

A gram-positive rod with a restriction pattern closely related to the published nucleotide sequence of Mycobacterium mucogenicum was isolated from 6 of 45 units of peripheral blood stem cell products. The source of the contamination was traced to ice cubes used in processing the peripheral blood stem cell products. Substituting reusable ice trays for ice from an ice machine terminated the outbreak.

Surgical site infection rates following cardiac surgery: the impact of a 6-year infection control program.

Background: To evaluate the impact of an infection control program on surgical site infections (SSIs) complicating cardiac operations.

Methods: Prospective cohort study of patients undergoing cardiac operations. Interventions included prospective surveillance, povidone-iodine scrub showers, depilation before surgery, administration of preoperative antibiotic prophylaxis in the operating room, and postdischarge follow-up.