Assessment of microbial bioburden on portable medical equipment in a hospital setting.

Objectives: Although routine disinfection of portable medical equipment is required in most hospitals, frontline staff may not be able to disinfect portable medical equipment at a rate that adequately maintains low bioburden on high-use equipment. This study quantified bioburden over an extended time period for two types of portable medical equipment, workstations on wheels and vitals machines, across three hospital wards.

Methods: Bioburden was quantified via press plate samples taken from high touch surfaces on 10 workstations on wheels and 5 vitals machines on each of 3 medical surgical units.

Effect of a "feedback prompt" from a disinfection tracking system on portable medical equipment disinfection.

Background: Portable medical equipment (PME) may contribute to transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms without proper disinfection. We studied whether a Disinfection Tracking System (DTS) with feedback prompt, attached to PME, can increase the frequency of PME disinfection.

Methods: DTS devices were placed on 10 workstations-on-wheels (WOWs) and 5 vitals machine (VM).

Degree of concordance of strains in adults with community-associated infection and infants with colonization.

Background: Infants asymptomatically excrete Clostridioides difficile during their first year of life, suggesting that they may represent a source of infection for adults who acquire community-associated C. difficile infection (CA-CDI). The genetic relationship of C.

Clade-specific variation in susceptibility of to broad-spectrum ultraviolet C light (UV-C).

Background: Candida auris is an emerging and often multidrug-resistant fungal pathogen with an exceptional ability to persist on hospital surfaces. These surfaces can act as a potential source of transmission. Therefore, effective disinfection strategies are urgently needed.

Effectiveness of Copper-Impregnated Solid Surfaces on Lowering Microbial Bio-Burden Levels in an Acute Care Hospital.

Background: Microbial bio-burden on high-touch surfaces in patient rooms may lead to acquisition of health care-associated infections in acute care hospitals. This study examined the effect of a novel copper-impregnated solid material (16%-20% copper oxide in a polymer-based resin) on bacterial contamination on high-touch surfaces in patient rooms in an acute care hospital.

Methods: Five high-touch surfaces were sampled for aerobic bacterial colonies (ABCs) 3 times per day over a 3-day period in 16 rooms with copper installed and 16 rooms with standard noncopper laminate installed on high-touch surfaces.

Draft Genome Sequence of an Unusually Multidrug-Resistant Strain of Achromobacter xylosoxidans from a Blood Isolate.

strain DN2019 was isolated from blood of a septicemia patient. We describe the draft genome and antibiotic susceptibility of this strain.