Press Release
EMBARGOED until: May 29, 2013, 5:00 p.m. ET
Contact: CDC Media Relations, Office of Communication
(404) 639-3286
AHRQ Public Affairs
(301) 427-1244
Contact: CDC Media Relations, Office of Communication
(404) 639-3286
AHRQ Public Affairs
(301) 427-1244
MRSA study slashes deadly infections in sickest hospital patients
Bloodstream infections cut by more than 40 percent in study of over 74,000 patients
NEW: Broadcast quality clips featuring CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. on this topic are available here: http://www.cdc.gov/media/subtopic/audioVideo.htm Using germ-killing soap and ointment on all intensive-care unit (ICU) patients can reduce bloodstream infections by up to 44 percent and significantly reduce the presence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in ICUs. A new Department of Health and Human Services-funded study released today tested three MRSA prevention strategies and found that using germ-killing soap and ointment on all ICU patients was more effective than other strategies.
“Patients in the ICU are already very sick, and the last thing they need to deal with is a preventable infection,” said Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The study, REDUCE MRSA trial, was published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine and took place in two stages from 2009-2011. A multidisciplinary team from the University of California, Irvine
“CDC invested in these advances in order to protect patients from deadly drug-resistant infections,” said CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “We need to turn science into practical action for clinicians and hospitals. CDC is working to determine how the findings should inform CDC infection prevention recommendations.”
MRSA is resistant to first-line antibiotic treatments and is an important cause of illness and sometimes death, especially among patients who have had medical care. Three-quarters of Staphylococcus aureus infections in hospital ICUs are considered methicillin-resistant. In 2012, encouraging results from a CDC report
“This study helps answer a long-standing debate in the medical field about whether we should tailor our efforts to prevent infection to specific pathogens, such as MRSA, or whether we should identify a high-risk patient group and give them all special treatment to prevent infection,” said lead author Susan Huang, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor at the UCI School of Medicine and medical director of epidemiology and infection prevention at UC Irvine Health. “The universal decolonization strategy was the most effective and the easiest to implement. It eliminates the need for screening ICU patients for MRSA.”
REDUCE MRSA trial was conducted through AHRQ and CDC research programs. The research was conducted in partnership with the HCA and nearly four dozen of its affiliated facilities.
Reducing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), such as MRSA, is a priority for the National Quality Strategy
HAIs are also an area of focus for the Partnership for Patients
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario