The following are 10 things to know about infection control, compiled from news on Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality.
1. The national rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections declined 27% between 2005 and 2011 for both healthcare- and community-acquired cases.
2. A collaboration of major infection control societies published the first updates to catheter-associated urinary tract infection prevention and management guidelines since 2008. The updates, presented in a series, will be followed by six other articles over the next several months, which will address strategies to prevent Clostridium difficile, surgical site infections, MRSA, central line-associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia and will feature an article on best practices for hand hygiene improvement.
3. Expenditures on pharmaceuticals of all kinds of are expected to rise between 3 and 5 percent during 2014, according to a study in the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy.
4. The top five hospital-acquired infections cost U.S. hospitals approximately $9.8 billion annually, with a potential societal cost of up to $147 billion annually, according to an articles in JAMA Internal Medicine and the Journal of Medical Economics.
5. According to Kelly A. Reynolds, MD, the best way to keep soft surfaces clean is to routinely launder them. In addition, she recommends the use an EPA-registered product to kill bacteria on soft surfaces between laundering and on soft surfaces that cannot be laundered. Finally, promoting hand hygiene practices by healthcare professionals during and between patient care is another vital strategy to the maintenance of soft surface cleanliness.
6. Restricting blood transfusion or using fewer units of blood during a transfusion reduces the risk of healthcare-associated infection for transfusion patients by about 5 percent, according to a study.
7. Fecal microbiota transplant colonoscopies may be the most cost effective method for treating recurrent C. diff, with a cure rate greater than 88.4 percent, associated recurrence rate less than 14.9 percent and an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio lower than that of oral vancomycin.
8. A major reservoir for the most common bacteria found in hospitals may literally be right outside the front door, as researchers have determined certain strains of A. baumannii and cephalosporin-resistant Enterobacteriaceae found in hospitals are also found on surfaces directly outside of the hospital setting.
9. The global infection control market is expected to be valued at $14 billion in 2017, a 33 percent increase from 2012, according to a Research and Markets report. In 2012, the market was valued at $10.5 billion. It is expected to grow at a steady 6 percent rate over the next four years.
10. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology offers a free cost estimator designed to measure the financial impact of HAIs on several types of facilities.