This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Previous patient with C. difficile increased risk for infection in new patient in ICU
Shaughnessy MK.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2011;32(3):00-00 [Epub ahead of print Feb. 10, 2011].
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Admission to an intensive care unit room previously occupied by a patient with Clostridium difficile infection was significantly associated with the risk for acquisition of the infection in a new patient — regardless of previously established risk factors.
For the retrospective cohort study, researchers from the University of Michigan evaluated whether admission to an ICU room previously occupied by a patient with C. difficile increased the risk for acquiring the infection in a new patient. Patients were admitted to an 809-bed tertiary care hospital with a 20-bed ICU. Researchers chose this hospital because of its high-risk population and the presence of single ICU rooms.
Data were pooled between 2005 and 2006 on patients evaluated for C. difficile48 hours after admission to the ICU and within 30 days after discharge. Those who contracted C. difficilewere then compared with those who did not.
Of 1,844 patients admitted to the ICU, 134 acquired C. difficile infection during their hospital stay. Of those who acquired C. difficile, 11% had a prior occupant with C. difficile compared with 4.6% who did not have a prior occupant infected with C. difficile (P=.002).
A prior occupant with C. difficile infection remained significant even after controlling for age, antibiotic use and proton pump inhibitor exposure, according to the researchers.
“Our study further confirmed the important role the hospital environment plays in transmission of infections such as C. difficile because placement in a room of a prior occupant with C. difficilewas a significant risk factor for C. difficileacquisition,” the researchers wrote.
 |
Follow InfectiousDiseaseNews.com on Twitter. |