Effectiveness of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus surveillance among exposed roommates in community hospitals: Conventional culture versus direct PCR.

Background: Roommates of unrecognized nosocomial methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cases are at a higher acquisition risk; however, optimal surveillance strategies are unknown.

Methods: Using simulation, we analyzed surveillance testing and isolation strategies for MRSA among exposed hospital roommates. We compared isolating exposed roommates until conventional culture testing on day 6 and a nasal polymerase chain reaction test on day 3 (PCR3) with/without day 0 culture testing (Cult0).

Surgical site infection rates are higher among elective colorectal surgery patients receiving non-beta-lactam-based antimicrobial prophylaxis: A retrospective chart review.

We compared the odds of acquiring surgical site infection (SSI) for clean-contaminated colorectal surgeries between intravenous β-lactam-based prophylaxis (BLP) versus alternative antimicrobial prophylaxis (AAP). We calculated the odds of acquiring an SSI using logistic regression; adjusted odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) are reported. Increased odds of SSI were detected with AAP versus BLP (OR, 2.

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales in hospital drains in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Background: Hospital drains may be an important reservoir for carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE).

Aim: To determine prevalence of CPE in hospital drains exposed to inpatients with CPE, relatedness of drain and patient CPE, and risk factors for drain contamination.

Methods: Sink and shower drains in patient rooms and communal shower rooms exposed to 310 inpatients with CPE colonization/infection were cultured at 10 hospitals.

Deriving effective vaccine allocation strategies for pandemic influenza: Comparison of an agent-based simulation and a compartmental model.

Individuals are prioritized based on their risk profiles when allocating limited vaccine stocks during an influenza pandemic. Computationally expensive but realistic agent-based simulations and fast but stylized compartmental models are typically used to derive effective vaccine allocation strategies. A detailed comparison of these two approaches, however, is often omitted.

The use of the temporal scan statistic to detect methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus clusters in a community hospital.

Background: In healthcare facilities, conventional surveillance techniques using rule-based guidelines may result in under- or over-reporting of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) outbreaks, as these guidelines are generally unvalidated. The objectives of this study were to investigate the utility of the temporal scan statistic for detecting MRSA clusters, validate clusters using molecular techniques and hospital records, and determine significant differences in the rate of MRSA cases using regression models.

Methods: Patients admitted to a community hospital between August 2006 and February 2011, and identified with MRSA>48 hours following hospital admission, were included in this study.