Keep Skin Clean to Prevent Infection - PDF

[sharon sanders]

<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left">Research article
</td><td align="right"><!-- <rdf:RDF xmlns:cc="http://web.resource.org/cc/" xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlnsrism="http://prismstandard.org/namespaces/1.2/basic/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/"> <cc:Work rdf:about="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/7/105"> <cc:license rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"/> </cc:Work> <cc:License rdf:about="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/"> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Reproduction"/> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Distribution"/> <cc:requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Notice"/> <cc:requires rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/Attribution"/> <ccermits rdf:resource="http://web.resource.org/cc/DerivativeWorks"/> </cc:License> <item rdf:about="http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2334/7/105"> <title>Staphylococcus aureus intestinal colonization is associated with increased frequency of S. aureus on skin of hospitalized patients</title> <dc:title>Staphylococcus aureus intestinal colonization is associated with increased frequency of S. aureus on skin of hospitalized patients</dc:title> <dc:creator>Bhalla, Anita</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Aron, David C</dc:creator> <dc:creator>Donskey, Curtis J</dc:creator> <dc:identifier>info:doi/10.1186/1471-2334-7-105</dc:identifier> <dc:source>BMC Infectious Diseases 2007, 7:105</dc:source> <dc:date>2007-09-11</dc:date>
BMC Infectious Diseases</prismublicationName>
2007-09-11</prismublicationDate>
7</prism:volume>
1</prism:number>
Research article</prism:section>
105</prism:startingPage> </item> </rdf:RDF> -->.</td> </tr> </tbody></table>Staphylococcus aureus intestinal colonization is associated with increased frequency of S. aureus on skin of hospitalized patients
Anita Bhalla , David C Aron and Curtis J Donskey

BMC Infectious Diseases 2007, 7:105 doi:10.1186/1471-2334-7-105

<table class="smalltext" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tbody><tr> <td>Published</td> <td width="25"> </td> <td>11 September 2007</td> </tr> </tbody></table>
Abstract (provisional)

The complete article is available as a provisional PDF. The fully formatted PDF and HTML versions are in production.

Background
Intestinal colonization by Staphylococcus aureus among hospitalized patients has been associated with increased risk of staphylococcal infection and could potentially contribute to transmission. We hypothesized that S. aureus intestinal colonization is associated with increased frequency of S. aureus on patients' skin and nearby environmental surfaces.
Methods
Selected inpatients were cultured weekly for S. aureus from stool, nares, skin (groin and axilla), and environmental surfaces (bed rail and bedside table). Investigator's hands were cultured after contacting the patients' skin and the environmental surfaces.
Results
Of 71 subjects, 32 (45.1%) had negative nares and stool cultures, 23 (32.4%) had positive nares and stool cultures, 13 (18.3%) were nares carriers only, and 3 (4.2%) were stool carriers only. Of the 39 patients with S. aureus carriage, 30 (76.9%) had methicillin-resistant isolates. In comparison to nares colonization only, nares and intestinal colonization was associated with increased frequency of positive skin cultures (41% versus 77%; p =0.001) and trends toward increased environmental contamination (45% versus 62%; p =0.188) and acquisition on investigator's hands (36% versus 60%; p =0.057). Patients with negative nares and stool cultures had low frequency of S. aureus on skin and the environment (4.8% and 11.3%, respectively).
Conclusions
We found that hospitalized patients with S. aureus nares and/or stool carriage frequently had S. aureus on their skin and on nearby environmental surfaces. S. aureus intestinal colonization was associated with increased frequency of positive skin cultures, which could potentially facilitate staphylococcal infections and nosocomial transmission.

 

[cartski]

Re: Keep Skin Clean to Prevent Infection - PDF

"We found that hospitalized patients with S. aureus nares and/or stool carriage frequently had S. aureus on their skin and on nearby environmental surfaces. S. aureus intestinal colonization was associated with increased frequency of positive skin cultures, which could potentially facilitate staphylococcal infections and nosocomial transmission."

My apologies for what must seem like ridicultous questions to the healthcare and micro-bio professionals on FT. But I don't understand the link between this conclusion and bird flu.

Are not the conclusions from this article already well known in hospital settings? Would not bed rails and table tops be subjected to rigorous cleaning especially in MRSA hospitals?

What does this article add to the body of knowledge about nosocomial infections?

Is ther a great similarity, biologically, between flu, H5N1 and S. aureus?

Are we saying that H5N1 may be transmitted like S. aureus, and that skin to skin contact will likely be a major transmission mode?

Are we saying that intenstinal colonization of a virus, of whatever type, will lead to fomite transmission?

Are we saying that during a pandemic, the traditional fear of hospitals would be well-founded?

Sorry, again, for being dense or, perhaps, offensive (not intended).

I'll go back to eating my sandwich off my desktop.

J.