Room cleaning technique decreases transmission of ICU multidrug-resistant organisms

January 01, 0001

Room cleaning technique decreases transmission of ICU multidrug-resistant organisms

Admission to intensive care unit rooms previously occupied by carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin- resistant enteroccoci (VRE) had been found to confer a 40% increased risk of acquisition, presumably through environmental contamination. These US authors conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients admitted to 10 intensive care units at a 750-bed academic medical center during an enhanced cleaning intervention (from September 1, 2006, through April 30, 2008; n = 9449) vs baseline (from September 1, 2003, through April 30, 2005; n = 8203) periods. The intervention consisted of targeted feedback using a black-light marker, cleaning cloths saturated with disinfectant via bucket immersion, and increased education regarding the importance of repeated bucket immersion during cleaning. Intensive care units included medical, cardiac, burn/trauma, general surgery, cardiac surgery, thoracic surgery, and neurosurgery units.

They found: "Acquisition of MRSA and VRE was lowered from 3.0% to 1.5% for MRSA and from 3.0% to 2.2% for VRE. Patients in rooms previously occupied by MRSA carriers had an increased risk of acquisition during the baseline (3.9% vs 2.9%) but not the intervention (1.5% vs 1.5%) period. In contrast, patients in rooms previously occupied by VRE carriers had an increased risk of acquisition during the baseline (4.5% vs 2.8%,) and intervention (3.5% vs 2.0%) periods."

The authors concluded: "Enhanced intensive care unit cleaning using the intervention methods may reduce MRSA and VRE transmission. It may also eliminate the risk of MRSA acquisition due to an MRSA-positive prior room occupant."

This is a good way to make hospitals safer.


For the full abstract, click here.

Arch Intern Med 171(6):491-494, 28 March 2011
© 2011 to the American Medical Association
Environmental Cleaning Intervention and Risk of Acquiring Multidrug-Resistant Organisms From Prior Room Occupants. Rupak Datta, Richard Platt, Deborah S. Yokoe, Susan S. Huang. Correspondence to Dr. Datta: [email protected]

Category: HSR. Health Services Research. Keywords: intensive care unit, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, vancomycin-resistant enteroccoci, VRE, before-and-after study, journal watch.
Synopsis edited by Dr Linda French, Toledo, Ohio. Posted on Global Family Doctor 19 April 2011

Pearls are an independent product of the Cochrane primary care group and are meant for educational use and not to guide clinical care.