BACKGROUND Each year, nearly 7 million hospitalized patients acquire infections while being treated for other conditions. Nurse staffing has been implicated in the spread of infection within hospitals, yet little evidence is available to explain this association. METHODS We linked nurse survey data to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council report on hospital infections and the ...

During the last years, several applications of biosurfactants with medical purposes have been reported. Biosurfactants are considered relevant molecules for applications in combating many diseases and as therapeutic agents due to their antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral activities. Furthermore, their role as anti-adhesive agents against several pathogens illustrate their utility as suitabl...

BACKGROUND On 1 October 2008, in an effort to stimulate efforts to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a policy of not reimbursing hospitals for hospital-acquired CAUTI. Since any urinary tract infection present on admission would not fall under this initiative, concerns have been raised that the policy may ...

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative bacterium in the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is associated with numerous nosocomial infections, including respiratory and urinary tract infections in humans. The following reports the complete genome sequence of K. pneumoniae carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae T1-like siphophage Sushi and describes its major features.

BACKGROUND There is increasing interest in public reporting of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) data in Europe, mostly for patient safety reasons. But it is uncertain whether patients and other stakeholders benefit from them. AIM To obtain the views of European infection control opinion leaders and provide information about public reporting of HAI in Europe. METHODS European Centre for...

BACKGROUND To evaluate hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in somatic (all admissions other than psychiatric) and psychiatric patients admitted to a tertiary university hospital in Oslo, before and after reorganization of the Norwegian healthcare system in 2002. METHODS Point prevalence studies were conducted four times per annum and over the period from 1995 to 2007. RESULTS A total of 57,...

Healthcare settings are dangerous places. For those receiving care, the risk of unintended harm from healthcare failures continues to be significant. Given this, there is a need to monitor standards in healthcare, not only to identify potential issues, but also to plan and evaluate interventions aimed at improving healthcare standards. Public reporting of performance standards is one aspect to ...

Antimicrobial resistance and hospital infections have increased alarmingly in India. Antibiotic stewardship and hospital infection control are two broad strategies which have been employed globally to contain the problems of resistance and infections. For this to succeed, it is important to bring on board the various stakeholders in hospitals, especially the clinical pharmacologists. The discip...

The rates of the predominantly hospital acquired infection, Clostridium difficile, have increased throughout the world. Several risk factors and susceptible patient populations have been identified. Patients with pre-existing liver disease represent an important cohort; recent evidence suggests that Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is associated with a worse outcome and increased health ca...

Enterococcus faecalis is known to cause a variety of nosocomial infections, including urinary tract infections. Antibiotic resistance and virulence properties in this species are of public concern. The draft genome sequences of six E. faecalis strains isolated from clinical and environmental sources in Malaysia are presented here.