Factors underlying the high occupational risk of healthcare personnel for COVID-19 infection.

Unlabelled: Crispim et al. demonstrated the independent risk factors for acquiring COVID-19 among healthcare personnel. They also showed the importance of infection prevention training to avoid acquiring COVID-19 in this population.

Emergency units and COVID-19: Burnout, and empathy reported by nursing professionals and perceived by patients.

Objective: To investigate Burnout Syndrome and empathy self-reported by the nursing staff and empathy perceived by the patient.

Method: Cross-sectional study in a public emergency unit in São Paulo (from October/2020 to March/2021). The nursing staff answered the Maslach Burnout Inventory and the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure-Nurses (Brazilian version), whereas adult patients answered the Consultation and Relational Empathy Measure (Brazilian version).

Performance of a multidisciplinary team and the impact of bundles for reducing health care associated infections in adult intensive care unit: 22 years of experience.

A retrospective cohort study was conducted to evaluate the bundle of techniques developed by the multidisciplinary team to minimize infections in an adult intensive care unit over a 22-year span. Two periods were analyzed: 1996-2006 and 2007-2017. Bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and ventilator-associated pneumonia declined 58.

An innovative strategy for nursing training on standard and transmission-based precautions in primary health care: A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Strategies to improve adherence to standard and transmission-based precautions are essential to reduce the risk of health care-associated infections. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational strategy on precautions among nursing staff in primary health care settings.

Methods: A randomized nonblinded controlled trial was conducted with 100 nursing staff working in 28 primary health care units.

Knowledge about precautions in Primary Health Care: tool validation.

Objective: To elaborate and validate a tool to assess knowledge and behavior of nursing professionals about standards and specific precautions in the Primary Health Care.

Method: Methodological study of the elaboration and validation of the tool by thirteen experts judges, using a Likert scale of 4 points, with Content Validity Index ≥ 0.80, on clarity, relevance and pertinence.

Adherence to precautions for preventing the transmission of microorganisms in primary health care: a qualitative study.

Background: Health care associated infections (HAIs) are a source of concern worldwide. No health service in any country can be considered HAI risk-free. However, there is scarcity of data on the risks to which both patients and health workers are subject in non-hospital settings.

Risk factors for mortality in ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis: a case-control study.

Objective: To describe the microbiological characteristics and to assess the risk factors for mortality of ventilator-associated tracheobronchitis in a case-control study of intensive care patients.

Methods: This case-control study was conducted over a 6-year period in a 40-bed medical-surgical intensive care unit in a tertiary care, private hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. Case patients were identified using the Nosocomial Infection Control Committee database.

Negative pressure of the environmental air in the cleaning area of the materials and sterilization center: a systematic review.

Objective: to analyze the scientific evidence on aerosols generated during cleaning activities of health products in the Central Service Department (CSD) and the impact of the negative pressure of the ambient air in the cleaning area to control the dispersion of aerosols to adjacent areas.

Method: for this literature systematic review the following searches were done: search guidelines, manuals or national and international technical standards given by experts; search in the portal and databases PubMed, Scopus, CINAHL and Web of Science; and a manual search of scientific articles.

Results: the five technical documents reviewed recommend that the CSD cleaning area should have a negative differential ambient air pressure, but scientific articles on the impact of this intervention were not found.

Ochrobactrum anthropi bacteremia in a preterm infant with cystic fibrosis.

Ochrobactrum anthropi infection in newborn patients is rare, and the treatment is challenging because of its widespread and unpredictable resistance to antimicrobial agents and discrepancies between in vitro susceptibility and in vivo efficacy. We report the clinical and microbiological characteristics of Ochrobactrum anthropi bacteremia in a preterm patient.

Secular trends in the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI): relationship with alcohol gel and antimicrobial usage in a hospital.

Background: Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) has shown increasing incidence, morbidity, and mortality in recent years. We assessed the number of CDAD tests requested, CDAD positivity rates, the use of alcohol-based hand rubs, and antimicrobial utilization.

Methods: We collected information on every adult patient (>18 years) who developed diarrhea and had a positive stool test for C.

[A systematic review of surgical hand antisepsis utilizing an alcohol preparation compared to traditional products].

Surgical hand antisepsis aims at preventing surgical site infections, an important cause of postoperative morbidity and mortality and escalating hospital costs. The objectives of this study were to compare the efficacy of alcohol preparations with traditional surgical hand antisepsis products by means of a systematic review of the literature. Primary and secondary studies were included, considering the microbial count or surgical site infection rates as outcomes.

Bacterial reduction of alcohol-based liquid and gel products on hands soiled with blood.

The antibacterial efficacy of three alcohol-based products (liquid and gel) were tested on the hands with blood and contaminated with Serratia marcescens (ATCC 14756), using EN 1500 procedures in 14 healthy volunteers. The alcohol-based products tested, either gel or liquid-based, reached bacterial reduction levels higher than 99.9% in the presence of blood and did not differ significantly (ANOVA test; P = 0.

Positive deviance: a program for sustained improvement in hand hygiene compliance.

Background: There is a paucity of data evaluating whether positive deviance (PD) can sustain improvement in hand hygiene compliance.

Methods: An observational study comparing the effect of PD on compliance with hand hygiene was conducted in two 20-bed step-down units (SDUs) at a private tertiary care hospital. In a 3-month baseline period (April-June 2008), hand hygiene counts were performed by electronic handwashing counters.

The sterilization efficacy of reprocessed single use diathermy pencils.

In Brazil, single use diathermy pencils (SUDP) are among the most common reused devices. This study assesses the sterilization efficacy of reprocessing SUDP using two cleansing methods (manual or automated), followed by one of three of the low-temperature sterilization methods: Hydrogen Peroxide Plasma (HPP), Ethylene Oxide (ETO) or Low-Temperature Steam Formaldehyde (LTSF). The sample was composed of 360 SUDP after their first use.

Pseudo-outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens related to bronchoscopes.

Objective: To investigate an apparent outbreak involving simultaneous isolation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Serratia marcescens from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) samples.

Design: Retrospective and prospective cohort studies using chart review, environmental sampling, and ribotyping of all available isolates. Cleaning and disinfection procedures for the bronchoscopes were also evaluated.