Water Cultures Are More Sensitive Than Swab Cultures for the Detection of Environmental Legionella.

Water cultures were significantly more sensitive than concurrently collected swab cultures (n=2,147 each) in detecting Legionella pneumophila within a Veterans Affairs healthcare system. Sensitivity for water versus swab cultures was 90% versus 30% overall, 83% versus 48% during a nosocomial Legionnaires' disease outbreak, and 93% versus 22% post outbreak. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:108-110.

Improving the Diagnosis of Legionella Pneumonia within a Healthcare System through a Systematic Consultation and Testing Program.

Rationale: Legionella testing is not recommended for all patients with pneumonia, but rather for particular patient subgroups. As a result, the overall incidence of Legionella pneumonia may be underestimated.

Objectives: To determine the incidence of Legionella pneumonia in a veteran population in an endemic area after introduction of a systematic infectious diseases consultation and testing program.

The importance of clinical surveillance in detecting legionnaires' disease outbreaks: a large outbreak in a hospital with a Legionella disinfection system-Pennsylvania, 2011-2012.

Background: Healthcare-associated Legionnaires' disease (LD) is a preventable pneumonia with a 30% case fatality rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines recommend a high index of suspicion for the diagnosis of healthcare-associated LD. We characterized an outbreak and evaluated contributing factors in a hospital using copper-silver ionization for prevention of Legionella growth in water.

An economic model: value of antimicrobial-coated sutures to society, hospitals, and third-party payers in preventing abdominal surgical site infections.

Background: While the persistence of high surgical site infection (SSI) rates has prompted the advent of more expensive sutures that are coated with antimicrobial agents to prevent SSIs, the economic value of such sutures has yet to be determined.

Methods: Using TreeAge Pro, we developed a decision analytic model to determine the cost-effectiveness of using antimicrobial sutures in abdominal incisions from the hospital, third-party payer, and societal perspectives. Sensitivity analyses systematically varied the risk of developing an SSI (range, 5%-20%), the cost of triclosan-coated sutures (range, $5-$25/inch), and triclosan-coated suture efficacy in preventing infection (range, 5%-50%) to highlight the range of costs associated with using such sutures.

Risk factors for acquisition of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii among cancer patients.

Background: Data regarding multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii infections among cancer patients are limited.

Methods: We conducted a case-control study to investigate the risk factors for acquisition of MDR A baumannii and the outcomes among cancer patients. Cases were inpatients with malignancy who had MDR A baumannii from any cultures between 2008 and 2011.