Showing papers in "American Journal of Infection Control in 1996"

TL;DR: William A. Rutala, PhD, MPH, CIC, was selected to revise the previously published “APIC Guideline for Selection and Use of Disinfectants” because of his recognized expertise in infection control and extensive research with disinfectants.

TL;DR: Acute, subacute/subchronic, and chronic toxicity profiles have been established to determine that triclosan is neither an acute oral toxicant nor that it acts as a carcinogen, mutagen, or teratogen.

TL;DR: In this article, a modified broth microdilution method was used to determine the susceptibility of a range of transient and commensal skin flora to the essential oil of Melaleuca alternifolia, or tea tree.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated microbial contamination of antiseptics and disinfectants that are used in a hospital and examined measures to prevent contamination of the agents, but no microbial contamination was observed.

TL;DR: The authors' data suggest that many infections with VRE resolve without specific therapy, and the infection control measures used were ineffective, possibly because of the multiple strains present in their hospital.

TL;DR: The process of defining departmental roles in the infection control program will continue to evolve with increased awareness of customer needs and emphasis on continuous quality improvement.

TL;DR: The predictive power of the final multivariate risk index clearly groups patients according to differing risk for postoperative infection in the high-risk population of patients with cancer, contributing substantially to the effectiveness of infection control strategies.

TL;DR: A decrease in infection rates with the implementation of a comprehensive educational and environmental infection control program in a day care setting is demonstrated.

TL;DR: New approaches for measures of severity of illness need to be developed to adjust NI rates and until such measures are available, comparative NI rates will be limited in their use as definitive indicators of quality of care.

TL;DR: In this article, a survey of 20 Japanese institutions was conducted to determine the bactericidal activities of seven disinfectants against H. pylori infection in upper gastrointestinal endoscopy, including ethyl alcohol, belzalkonium chloride, or alkyldiaminocthylglycine hydrochloride.

TL;DR: There were important epidemiologic differences between in-hospital SWI and postdischarge SWI; most risk factors for in- Hospital Nosocomial Infections Surveillance indexes are not predictors for postdis discharge SWI.

TL;DR: Because the risk of HCW TST conversion varies with hospital characteristics, these data show the importance of performing a risk assessment, as recommended in the CDC TB guidelines, for each ward and hospital so that TB control measures can be individualized.

TL;DR: In the long-term care facility setting, monitoring the number of residents treated with antibiotics per month is a more practical and useful measure of use than measurement of resident care days on antibioticsper month.

TL;DR: The results suggest that the nature of the surface being challenged may affect the sporicidal activity of some chemical agents, and may help prevent an overestimation of spricidal activity and possible transmission of pathogens from the surface of improperly decontaminated medical devices.

TL;DR: Previously Environmental Protection Agency-approved tuberculocidal agents may be ineffective against M. gordonae when used according to label claims under normal clinical conditions and newer automatic disinfection machines may be as effective as traditional manual methods and also may reduce hazards to employees.

TL;DR: The advantages and limitations of automatic flexible endoscope reprocessors (AFERs) are presented and important reprocessing issues and purchasing concerns are addressed.

TL;DR: Percutaneous gastrostomy tubes can produce life threatening infections and deserve serious attention by ICPs in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and home care services.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors found that physicians have unique issues in complying with tuberculosis surveillance that need to be specifically addressed by hospitals in light of guidelines enforceable by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

TL;DR: Outbreak control measures were incompletely successful in stopping the spread of mumps, but preadmission immunization of all patients and mumps-specific screening and vaccination of hospital employees might be indicated in such a situation.

TL;DR: Two methods of urine collection-clean catch and midstream only-were compared and there were no significant differences between the two collection methods with regard to number of positive culture results or types and counts of organisms isolated.

TL;DR: Six different gloves were tested with five different aqueous glutaraldehyde formulations to determine each glove's resistance to permeation, and only butyl rubber and nitrile rubber were impermeable for extended periods.

TL;DR: Use of urokinase combined with antibiotic therapy is safe and may be effective in treating bacteremia and candidemia in patients with right atrial catheters and may prevent recurrence of infection.

TL;DR: The Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) 1996 “Guideline for Isolation Precautions in Hospitals” combines concepts of generic and diagnosis-based isolation precautions that have evolved over time, and it is a useful document for acute-care hospitals and some other facilities.

TL;DR: Introduction of the OSHA Control Plan, with concomitant increase in glove use and widespread use of a barrier hand foam were associated with a significant reduction in nosocomial infection rates.

TL;DR: House staff in high-exposure settings with suboptimal environmental controls are at increased risk for tuberculosis infection and participation in surveillance programs can be increased by enlisting the participation and advocacy of respected medical colleagues, screening house staff differentially according to exposure and job classifications, and more accurately interpreting subsequent test results from baseline two-step testing.

TL;DR: Outbreak of gram-negative bacteremia in patients undergoing long-term hemodialysis was due to contamination during dialysis setup and after institution of appropriate control measures, no new cases have occurred.