A small percentage of nursing home patients are carrying multidrug-resistant bacteria into hospitals without showing symptoms, according to research from the American Journal of Infection Control.
"When patients with drug-resistant bacteria are admitted to hospitals, there is a potential for spread to others," Leonard Mermel, DO, medical director of the epidemiology and infection control department at Providence-based Rhode Island Hospital and author of the study, said in a statement. "A better understanding of how such bacteria is transmitted between hospitals and nursing homes will enable us to develop control strategies."
In some cases, the bacterial strains were shown to be highly-resistant to drug treatments. The spread of such bacteria impacts morbidity, mortality and hospital costs, according to the researchers. The study looked at nursing home patients admitted to Rhode Island Hospital in 2012. These patients were screened for the presence of Enterobacteriaceae, a known drug-resistant bacteria with little data in medical literature about prevalence in nursing home patients who are admitted to hospitals. Researchers identified highly-resistant bacteria in 23 of the 500 patients, and they associated the use of a feeding tube with carrying the bacteria in the gastrointestinal system. The findings have significance for how hospitals approach antibiotic stewardship, according to Cheston Cunha, MD, a co-investigator on the study and director of the antibiotic stewardship program at Rhode Island Hospital and the Miriam Hospital.
"Antibiotic resistance has been called one of the world's most pressing public health problems," Dr. Cunha said. "When antibiotics fail, infections often last longer, cause more severe illness, require more doctor visits or extended hospital stays and involve more expensive and toxic medications. Some resistant infections can even cause death. Because therapeutic options are few if infections occur with antibiotic resistant bacteria, antibiotic stewardship and infection control measures are necessary in limiting the spread of these organisms in healthcare settings."