A study published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology examined the link between having a prior bed occupant or roommate with a healthcare-associated infection and a subsequent infection with the same organism.
Researchers conducted the study at four New York City-based hospitals. They studied 761,426 inpatients discharged from 2006 to 2012 to identify cases of patients who developed a healthcare-associated infection with:
• Staphylococcus aureus
• Acinetobacter baumannii
• Streptococcus pneumoniae
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa
• Klebsiella pneumoniae
• Enterococcus faecalis
• Enterococcus faecium
They matched infected patients to controls by fiscal quarter, hospital and length of stay. For beds with an infected study participant, they collected microbiology results for assigned roommates and the patient who occupied the bed immediately prior.
In all, researchers identified 10,289 HAIs. A multivariable analysis showed the odds of infected patients having been exposed to a prior bed occupant with the same organism were 5.83 times that of controls. Additionally, the odds of infected patients having been exposed to a roommate with the same organism were 4.82 times that of controls.
"Infected or colonized roommates and prior occupants do pose a risk, which may warrant enhanced terminal and intermittent cleaning measures," study authors concluded.