PURPOSE The purpose of this pilot study was to determine if a difference existed between nosocomial pneumonia rates for intubated critical care unit (CCU) patients who received twice-daily oral hygiene care with 0.12% chlorhexidine gluconate and those who received the standard oral care. METHODS Over seven months (February to August), CCU patients were identified through screening and informe...

In 2005, in the far northeastern corner of the USA, Kirkland et al, found themselves in a situation painfully familiar to many infection control professionals worldwide, including our institution in the early 1990s. Hand hygiene compliance amongst healthcare workers in their hospital was poor, healthcare workers were unenthusiastic about the importance of hand hygiene, and quality improvement i...

Food-related infection is an important health problem in many countries. This study was designed as an interventional study and carried out between December 1999 and August 2000. All 83 staff, handling food at the kitchens, were included in the study. A questionnaire was developed to evaluate the level of information and self-reported behaviours of the participants before and after the training...

heit, sich zu fragen, warum diese medizinische Disziplin gerade diesen 1 Emeritus Director of the Institute for Hygiene and MicroNamen trägt. Dazumüssenwir uns in die oberste Etage des griechischen Götterhimmels bewegen: biology at the University of Vienna, Austria Der schöne, aber gewalttätige Apollon, der Sohn des Zeus undGroßvater der Hygieia, schleuderte seine Tod und Verderben bringende Pf...

Veterinary nosocomial infections caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria cause increased morbidity, higher cost and length of treatment and increased zoonotic risk because of the difficulty in treating them. In this study, an individual-based model was developed to investigate the effects of movements of canine patients among ten areas (transmission points) within a veterinary teaching hospital...

BACKGROUND A number of strategies exist to reduce Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) transmission. We conducted an economic evaluation of "bundling" these strategies together. METHODS We constructed an agent-based computer simulation of nosocomial C. difficile transmission and infection in a hospital setting. This model included the following components: interactions between patients and he...

Bulk waste storage carts are common in hospitals and undoubtedly assist in the day-to-day management of clinical wastes. They are used for the transport and interim storage of primary clinical waste containers and are often located close to or within hospital buildings to receive such wastes from clinical departments. Examination of a random selection of bulk clinical waste carts at nine acute ...

BACKGROUND Oral diseases and conditions have been identified as a significant problem for elderly residents of long-term care (LTC) hospitals in developed countries, yet little recent information is available for the Canadian population. OBJECTIVE To describe the medical, dietary, oral microbial, oral hygiene and dental status of elderly Canadians living in LTC hospitals in Vancouver and surr...

Introduction Hand hygiene is one of the most important ways to reduce the prevalence of nosocomial infections, morbidity, mortality, and health-care costs among hospitalized patients worldwide. Objectives We addressed this study to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding hand hygiene guidelines among health-care workers. Methods A multicenter cross-sectional study conducted fro...