Postoperative wound care protocol prevents surgical site infection after craniotomy.

Background: Postoperative wound care after craniotomy is not standardized.

Objective: Evaluate the impact of a standardized post-craniotomy wound care protocol on surgical site infection (SSI).

Design And Setting: Prospective quasi-experimental single-center intervention cohort study involving adult patients undergoing craniotomy at a 461-bed academic medical center in Orange County, California from January 2019-March 2023 (intervention) compared to January 2017-December 2018 (baseline).

Modeling Nursing Home Harms From COVID-19 Staff Furlough Policies.

Importance: Current guidance to furlough health care staff with mild COVID-19 illness may prevent the spread of COVID-19 but may worsen nursing home staffing shortages as well as health outcomes that are unrelated to COVID-19.

Objective: To compare COVID-19-related with non-COVID-19-related harms associated with allowing staff who are mildly ill with COVID-19 to work while masked.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This modeling study, conducted from November 2023 to June 2024, used an agent-based model representing a 100-bed nursing home and its residents, staff, and their interactions; care tasks; and resident and staff health outcomes to simulate the impact of different COVID-19 furlough policies over 1 postpandemic year.

Vascular calcification in chronic kidney disease associated with pathogenic variants in ABCC6.

Vascular calcification is prevalent in chronic kidney disease (CKD). Genetic causes of CKD account for 10-20% of adult-onset disease. Vascular calcification is thought to be one of the most important risk factors for increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in CKD patients and is detectable in 80% of patients with end stage kidney disease (ESKD).

A Trial of Automated Outbreak Detection to Reduce Hospital Pathogen Spread.

Background: Detection and containment of hospital outbreaks currently depend on variable and personnel-intensive surveillance methods. Whether automated statistical surveillance for outbreaks of health care-associated pathogens allows earlier containment efforts that would reduce the size of outbreaks is unknown.

Methods: We conducted a cluster-randomized trial in 82 community hospitals within a larger health care system.

Stewardship Prompts to Improve Antibiotic Selection for Pneumonia: The INSPIRE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Pneumonia is the most common infection requiring hospitalization and is a major reason for overuse of extended-spectrum antibiotics. Despite low risk of multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infection, clinical uncertainty often drives initial antibiotic selection. Strategies to limit empiric antibiotic overuse for patients with pneumonia are needed.

Stewardship Prompts to Improve Antibiotic Selection for Urinary Tract Infection: The INSPIRE Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is the second most common infection leading to hospitalization and is often associated with gram-negative multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). Clinicians overuse extended-spectrum antibiotics although most patients are at low risk for MDRO infection. Safe strategies to limit overuse of empiric antibiotics are needed.

Reducing Hospitalizations and Multidrug-Resistant Organisms via Regional Decolonization in Hospitals and Nursing Homes.

Importance: Infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, length of hospitalization, and health care costs. Regional interventions may be advantageous in mitigating MDROs and associated infections.

Objective: To evaluate whether implementation of a decolonization collaborative is associated with reduced regional MDRO prevalence, incident clinical cultures, infection-related hospitalizations, costs, and deaths.

Impact of universal chlorhexidine bathing with or without COVID-19 intensive training on staff and resident COVID-19 case rates in nursing homes.

We evaluated whether universal chlorhexidine bathing (decolonization) with or without COVID-19 intensive training impacted COVID-19 rates in 63 nursing homes (NHs) during the 2020-2021 Fall/Winter surge. Decolonization was associated with a 43% lesser rise in staff case-rates ( < .001) and a 52% lesser rise in resident case-rates ( < .

How the Timing of Annual COVID-19 Vaccination of Nursing Home Residents and Staff Affects Its Value.

Objectives: To evaluate the epidemiologic, clinical, and economic value of an annual nursing home (NH) COVID-19 vaccine campaign and the impact of when vaccination starts.

Design: Agent-based model representing a typical NH.

Setting And Participants: NH residents and staff.

Cost-effectiveness of severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) testing and isolation strategies in nursing homes.

Objective: Nursing home residents may be particularly vulnerable to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Therefore, a question is when and how often nursing homes should test staff for COVID-19 and how this may change as severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) evolves.

Design: We developed an agent-based model representing a typical nursing home, COVID-19 spread, and its health and economic outcomes to determine the clinical and economic value of various screening and isolation strategies and how it may change under various circumstances.

Factors Affecting Post-trial Sustainment or De-implementation of Study Interventions: A Narrative Review.

In contrast to traditional randomized controlled trials, embedded pragmatic clinical trials (ePCTs) are conducted within healthcare settings with real-world patient populations. ePCTs are intentionally designed to align with health system priorities leveraging existing healthcare system infrastructure and resources to ease intervention implementation and increase the likelihood that effective interventions translate into routine practice following the trial. The NIH Pragmatic Trials Collaboratory, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), supports the conduct of large-scale ePCT Demonstration Projects that address major public health issues within healthcare systems.

Rapid Environmental Contamination With Candida auris and Multidrug-Resistant Bacterial Pathogens Near Colonized Patients.

Background: Environmental contamination is suspected to play an important role in Candida auris transmission. Understanding speed and risks of contamination after room disinfection could inform environmental cleaning recommendations.

Methods: We conducted a prospective multicenter study of environmental contamination associated with C.

Evaluating barriers and potential solutions to speaking up about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms: A survey among nursing home workers.

Objective: Quantify the frequency and drivers of unreported coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms among nursing home (NH) staff.

Design: Confidential telephone survey.

Setting: The study was conducted in 70 NHs in Orange County, California, December 2020-February 2022.

Bayesian modeling of the impact of antibiotic resistance on the efficiency of MRSA decolonization.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Colonization by MRSA increases the risk of infection and transmission, underscoring the importance of decolonization efforts. However, success of these decolonization protocols varies, raising the possibility that some MRSA strains may be more persistent than others.

Decolonization in Nursing Homes to Prevent Infection and Hospitalization.

Background: Nursing home residents are at high risk for infection, hospitalization, and colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms.

Methods: We performed a cluster-randomized trial of universal decolonization as compared with routine-care bathing in nursing homes. The trial included an 18-month baseline period and an 18-month intervention period.

Nasal Iodophor Antiseptic vs Nasal Mupirocin Antibiotic in the Setting of Chlorhexidine Bathing to Prevent Infections in Adult ICUs: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Universal nasal mupirocin plus chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) bathing in intensive care units (ICUs) prevents methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections and all-cause bloodstream infections. Antibiotic resistance to mupirocin has raised questions about whether an antiseptic could be advantageous for ICU decolonization.

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of iodophor vs mupirocin for universal ICU nasal decolonization in combination with CHG bathing.

Assessing past versus present severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection: A survey of criteria for discontinuing precautions in asymptomatic patients testing positive on admission.

Infection prevention program leaders report frequent use of criteria to distinguish recently recovered coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases from actively infectious cases when incidentally positive asymptomatic patients were identified on routine severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing. Guidance on appropriate interpretation of high-sensitivity molecular tests can prevent harm from unnecessary precautions that delay admission and impede medical care.

National validation of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services strategy for identifying potential surgical-site infections following colon surgery and abdominal hysterectomy.

Objective: National validation of claims-based surveillance for surgical-site infections (SSIs) following colon surgery and abdominal hysterectomy.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Setting: US hospitals selected for data validation by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

SHEA/IDSA/APIC Practice Recommendation: Strategies to prevent methicillin-resistant transmission and infection in acute-care hospitals: 2022 Update.

Previously published guidelines have provided comprehensive recommendations for detecting and preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). The intent of this document is to highlight practical recommendations in a concise format designed to assist acute-care hospitals in implementing and prioritizing efforts to prevent methicillin-resistant (MRSA) transmission and infection. This document updates the "Strategies to Prevent Methicillin-Resistant Transmission and Infection in Acute Care Hospitals" published in 2014.

Not as simple as it seems: extensive facility and training gaps in nursing home bathing.

Standardized observation of bed baths and showers for 100 residents in 8 nursing homes revealed inadequate cleansing of body sites (88%-100% failure) and >90% process failure involving lather, firm massage, changing dirty wipes or cloths, and following clean-to-dirty sequence. Insufficient water warmth affected 86% of bathing opportunities. Bathing training and adequate resources are needed.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection prevention practices that exceed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance: Balancing extra caution against impediments to care.

In a survey of infection prevention programs, leaders reported frequent clinical and infection prevention practice modifications to avoid coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) exposure that exceeded national guidance. Future pandemic responses should emphasize balanced approaches to precautions, prioritize educational campaigns to manage safety concerns, and generate an evidence-base that can guide appropriate infection prevention practices.