Using infection control measures to manage vancomycin-resistant enterococci is hotly debated topic, so researchers assessed the efficacy of two infection prevention measures in a study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.
The researchers introduced two horizontal infection prevention measures — an environmental cleaning measure and an antimicrobial stewardship program — to four different hospital units in which patients were deemed to be at increased risk for VRE infections. The units involved in the study included an intensive care, burns-trauma, solid organ transplant and bone marrow transplant unit.
The results of the study found VRE bacteremia rates did not increase with the change to the VRE risk-managed approach and the number of patients requiring VRE isolation in all areas of the hospital decreased from an average of 32 to six beds per day.
Additionally, researchers discovered statistically significant reductions in Clostridium difficile infection and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection rates, which may have been related to the aggressive decluttering, equipment cleaning and antimicrobial stewardship program elements that occurred after the implementation of the VRE risk-managed approach.
Ultimately, the study concluded that, "A risk-managed approach to VRE can be implemented without adverse consequences and potentially with significant benefits to a facility."
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