Isolation of Acinetobacter baumannii complex and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus from hospital rooms following terminal cleaning and disinfection: can we do better?

Objective: To study the frequency of isolation of Acinetobacter baumannii complex (ABC) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) from surfaces of rooms newly vacated by patients with multidrug-resistant (MDR) ABC following various rounds of routine terminal cleaning and disinfection (C/D) with bleach or 1 round of C/D followed by hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) treatment.

Setting: A 900-bed tertiary care hospital.

Methods: ABC and MRSA cultures were obtained from hospital rooms including 312 rooms (mean, 18.

Is it Clostridium difficile infection or something else? A case-control study of 352 hospitalized patients with new-onset diarrhea.

Background: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) is a leading cause of nosocomial diarrhea in the United States, and may be associated with significant morbidity and occasional mortality. Diarrhea is also very common among hospitalized patients and is often related to a variety of factors not related to C difficile infection.

Methods: We performed a retrospective case-control study at a tertiary care community medical center to delineate factors that are predictive of CDAD among hospitalized patients with new-onset diarrhea (ie, not present at the time of admission).

Surgical site infections associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: do postoperative factors play a role?

Patients with surgical site infections (SSIs) who underwent surgery during the period of September 1997 through December 1999 and January through July 2001 were retrospectively studied to compare patients infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) with those infected with organisms other than MRSA. Of patients with SSI who had known culture results, 77 (28.5%) of 270 had cultures that yielded MRSA.