Caveat emptor: the role of suboptimal bronchoscope repair practices by a third-party vendor in a pseudo-outbreak of pseudomonas in bronchoalveolar lavage specimens.

Objective: To describe a pseudo-outbreak associated with loose bronchoscope biopsy ports caused by inadequate bronchoscope repair practices by third-party vendors and to alert healthcare personnel to assess bronchoscope repair practices.

Design: Outbreak investigation.

Setting: A 925-bed tertiary care hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.

Infection prevention promotion program based on the PRECEDE model: improving hand hygiene behaviors among healthcare personnel.

Background: Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) result in significant morbidity and mortality. Hand hygiene remains a cornerstone intervention for preventing HAIs. Unfortunately, adherence to hand hygiene guidelines among healthcare personnel is poor.

Complete restriction of fluoroquinolone use to control an outbreak of Clostridium difficile infection at a community hospital.

Objective: To review the effect of interventions, including a complete restriction in the use of fluoroquinolones (FQs), used to control an outbreak of hospital-onset Clostridium difficile infection (HO-CDI) caused primarily by the epidemic North American pulsed-field gel electrophoresis type 1 strain.

Design: Retrospective cohort and case-control study of all episodes of HO-CDI both before and after 2 interventions.

Setting: Community hospital; January 1, 2005, through March 31, 2007.