PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Daily bathing of pediatric patients with antiseptic cuts bloodstream infections by 59 percent

2015-06-26
(Press-News.org) Nashville, Tenn., June 26, 2015--Daily bathing of pediatric patients with disposable cloths containing 2 percent chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) reduced central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) by 59 percent and saved approximately $300,000 in one hospital over a six-month period, according to a new study.

The study, to be presented on Saturday, June 27, at the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), examined the impact of implementing a daily CHG bathing protocol for all pediatric patients at Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health.

CHG is an antimicrobial that kills germs on a patient's skin for a prolonged period of time.

Previously, the hospital used CHG for daily bathing to reduce CLABSIs in the hematology/oncology unit with marked success. This prompted the team to consider implementation of this practice hospital-wide, regardless of whether patients had central line catheters.

The infection prevention team worked with nursing staff, parents, and hospital leadership to develop a comprehensive educational program to adopt daily CHG bathing for all patients, and to strengthen adherence to a bundle of prevention practices already in place for patients with central lines. In addition to daily bathing with CHG-impregnated wipes, the strategies included daily linen changes, assessment of central line dressings, appropriate technique for giving medications, and regular tubing and cap changes on the lines.

A central line catheter is a tube placed in a large vein of a patient's neck or chest to give fluid, blood, or medication. It can be an entryway for germs to get inside the body.

"We took great care to ensure successful implementation of the new bathing regimen," said Adam N. Karcz, MPH, CPH, CIC, infection preventionist, Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health in Indianapolis. "Our executive suite and unit managers made sure all staff understood that this was a priority. By educating everyone on the care team--including parents--and standardizing bathing procedures, we were able to dramatically reduce infections and save healthcare dollars in just six months."

Bathing compliance increased from 45 percent to 81 percent during the six-month study period. During the control period--six months prior to implementation--the 269-bed hospital had 22 CLABSIs. During the implementation period, the number dropped to nine CLABSIs. The hospital also experienced a 56 percent drop in the number of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections during this time period. The reduction in healthcare-associated infections during the implementation period represents a potential cost savings of $297,999.

INFORMATION:

APIC 2015 Annual Conference, June 27-29 in Nashville, Tennessee, is the most comprehensive infection prevention conference in the world, with more than 100 educational sessions and workshops led by infection prevention experts and attended by nearly 5,000 individuals. The conference aims to provide infection preventionists, doctors, researchers, epidemiologists, educators, administrators, and medical technologists with tools and strategies that are easily adaptable and can be implemented immediately to improve prevention programs. Join the conversation online with the hashtag #APIC2015.

Oral Abstract #013 - Daily Bathing of Pediatric Inpatients with Chlorhexidine Gluconate to Prevent Hospital Acquired Infections

About APIC APIC's mission is to create a safer world through prevention of infection. The association's more than 15,000 members direct infection prevention programs that save lives and improve the bottom line for hospitals and other healthcare facilities. APIC advances its mission through patient safety, implementation science, competencies and certification, advocacy, and data standardization. Visit APIC online at http://www.apic.org. Follow APIC on Twitter: http://twitter.com/apic and Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/APICInfectionPreventionandYou. For information on what patients and families can do, visit APIC's Infection Prevention and You website at http://www.apic.org/infectionpreventionandyou.



ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Inactivity reduces people's muscle strength

2015-06-26
New research reveals that it only takes two weeks of not using their legs for young people to lose a third of their muscular strength, leaving them on par with a person who is 40-50 years their senior. The Center for Healthy Aging and the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Copenhagen conducted the research. Time and again, we are told that we need to stay physically active and exercise daily. But how quickly do we actually lose our muscular strength and muscle mass if we go from being averagely active to being highly inactive? For example when we are ...

Action spectrum of sun skin damage documented

2015-06-26
Scientists at Newcastle University have documented for the first time the DNA damage which can occur to skin across the full range of ultraviolet radiation from the sun providing an invaluable tool for sun-protection and the manufacturers of sunscreen. Testing on human skin cell lines, this study published today in The Society for Investigative Dermatology, documents the action spectrum of ultraviolet damage in cells derived from both the upper layer (dermis) and lower layer (epidermis) of the skin. This will allow manufacturers of sunscreen to develop and test products ...

Watershed science calls for integrated research methods

2015-06-26
A watershed is a basic unit of the land-surface system and also is a system that exchanges material, energy, and information with the external world while remaining relatively closed within a clear boundary, thereby making it the best unit for theory study and practical applications. Watershed science is an Earth system science practiced on a watershed scale and it has developed rapidly over the previous two decades. The goal of watershed science is to understand and predict the behavior of complex watershed systems and support the sustainable development of watersheds. ...

Emergency visits for childhood food allergy on rise in Illinois

2015-06-26
Food allergies now impacting children of all races and incomes Hispanic children have highest rise in emergency visits for food allergies Peanut and tree nuts followed by milk reactions were the most frequent cause of visits CHICAGO --- Emergency room visits and hospitalizations of children with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergy reactions increased nearly 30 percent in Illinois over five years, reports a Northwestern Medicine study. Hispanic children, who previously had the lowest reported cases of food allergies, had the biggest increase of emergency ...

Online computer game can help shed weight and reduce food intake

2015-06-26
A simple new computerised game could help people control their snacking impulses and lose weight. Psychologists at the University of Exeter and Cardiff University have today published a study that shows that participants lost an average of 0.7kg and consumed around 220 fewer calories a day whilst undergoing the week of training. With 64% of adults in the UK overweight or obese, the research opens up exciting possibilities that 'brain training' techniques specifically targeting problematic behaviours - such as overeating and drinking alcohol - might help people to take ...

Head Start program played anti-segregation role in the Deep South

2015-06-26
A federal preschool program did more than improve educational opportunities for poor children in Mississippi during the 1960s. The program also gave a political and economic boost to the state's civil rights activists, according to a Penn State historian. A key provision of the federal Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, which paved the way for several federal anti-poverty programs, was aimed at empowering the poor and sidestepping black disenfranchisement in the south, according to Crystal Sanders, an assistant professor of history and African American studies. Sanders ...

Rapid Ebola diagnostic successful in field trial

2015-06-26
A new test can accurately diagnose Ebola virus disease within minutes, providing clinicians with crucial information for treating patients and containing outbreaks. Researchers from Harvard Medical School, Partners In Health and Boston Children's Hospital have shown that a new commercially developed rapid diagnostic test performed at bedside was as sensitive as the conventional laboratory-based method used for clinical testing during the recent outbreak in Sierra Leone. The results are published in The Lancet. While the West African Ebola epidemic has slowed since its ...

SSRI antidepressants taken for menopausal symptoms may boost bone fracture risk

2015-06-26
The class of antidepressants known as SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), taken to curb menopausal symptoms, may boost bone fracture risk, suggests research published online in the journal Injury Prevention. The heightened risk seems to last for several years, the findings show, prompting the researchers to suggest that shorter treatment length may be preferable. Further studies are warranted to see if the same association is found at lower doses of these drugs, they say. SSRIs have become the third most frequently prescribed class of drug in the US, and ...

European rule changes on cross border pet transport may heighten rabies risk

2015-06-26
Recent changes to regulations on the transport of pets across Europe may have increased the threat of introducing rabies from rescue dogs into countries considered free of the disease, suggests research published in Veterinary Record. In 2012 the European Union (EU) changed its requirements for the non-commercial movement of cats, dogs, and ferrets across the borders of EU and European Economic Area countries. Up to that point, countries free of rabies virus - the UK, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and Norway - had required an additional blood test to be carried out a month ...

Women in developed world still face many barriers to early abortion

2015-06-26
Women in developed countries still find it very difficult to get an abortion in early pregnancy, despite facing fewer legal constraints than in other parts of the world, concludes an analysis of the available evidence, published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. Inadequate local service provision, negative attitudes towards abortion, and too few training opportunities for healthcare professionals all hinder access, say the researchers. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that for every 100 live births in the developed world, there ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Hormone therapy reshapes the skeleton in transgender individuals who previously blocked puberty

Evaluating performance and agreement of coronary heart disease polygenic risk scores

Heart failure in zero gravity— external constraint and cardiac hemodynamics

Amid record year for dengue infections, new study finds climate change responsible for 19% of today’s rising dengue burden

New study finds air pollution increases inflammation primarily in patients with heart disease

AI finds undiagnosed liver disease in early stages

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce new research fellowship in malaria genomics in honor of professor Dominic Kwiatkowski

Excessive screen time linked to early puberty and accelerated bone growth

First nationwide study discovers link between delayed puberty in boys and increased hospital visits

Traditional Mayan practices have long promoted unique levels of family harmony. But what effect is globalization having?

New microfluidic device reveals how the shape of a tumour can predict a cancer’s aggressiveness

Speech Accessibility Project partners with The Matthew Foundation, Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress

Mass General Brigham researchers find too much sitting hurts the heart

New study shows how salmonella tricks gut defenses to cause infection

Study challenges assumptions about how tuberculosis bacteria grow

NASA Goddard Lidar team receives Center Innovation Award for Advancements

Can AI improve plant-based meats?

How microbes create the most toxic form of mercury

‘Walk this Way’: FSU researchers’ model explains how ants create trails to multiple food sources

A new CNIC study describes a mechanism whereby cells respond to mechanical signals from their surroundings

Study uncovers earliest evidence of humans using fire to shape the landscape of Tasmania

Researchers uncover Achilles heel of antibiotic-resistant bacteria

Scientists uncover earliest evidence of fire use to manage Tasmanian landscape

Interpreting population mean treatment effects in the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire

Targeting carbohydrate metabolism in colorectal cancer: Synergy of therapies

Stress makes mice’s memories less specific

Research finds no significant negative impact of repealing a Depression-era law allowing companies to pay workers with disabilities below minimum wage

Resilience index needed to keep us within planet’s ‘safe operating space’

How stress is fundamentally changing our memories

Time in nature benefits children with mental health difficulties: study

[Press-News.org] Daily bathing of pediatric patients with antiseptic cuts bloodstream infections by 59 percent