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H Humphreys

Publications and source records attributed to H Humphreys.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2006

Survey of acute hospital infection control resources and services in the Republic of Ireland.

Following the development of national guidelines on the control of antimicrobial resistance in 2001, a survey was carried out in 2003 of all 68 acute hospitals in the Republic of Ireland on resources available and current practice to control and prevent nosocomial infection. Completed questionnaires were received from 66 hospitals (97%). The median number of acute inpatient beds per hospital was 156; this was 522 in regional/tertiary referral centres. Only 31 (47%) hospitals had on-site consultant microbiologist sessions, and there was an infection control nurse in 56 (85%) hospitals. Eighteen (29%) hospitals had an occupational health physician, and 48 (73%) hospitals had an infection control committee. There was a median of one isolation room for every 16 acute beds, and a median of five rooms with en-suite bathroom facilities per hospital in those hospitals that provided data. All hospitals had documented infection control policies, and these were available in electronic format in 25 (38%) hospitals. Fifty-five (83%) hospitals undertook surveillance of nosocomial infection, and alcohol-based hand hygiene facilities were available, either at a handwashing sink or at the entrance to a ward, in 57 (86%) hospitals. In the Republic of Ireland, there remains a significant shortage of microbiologists/infection control doctors, occupational health physicians and infection control nurses. Isolation facilities are also inadequate. Although there is much agreement internationally on the importance of nosocomial infection and the priorities for surveillance, there are no agreed basic minimum standards for the resources and facilities necessary to control and prevent nosocomial infection.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2006

MRSA behind bars?

Explore the source record for details and available documents.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2006

Guidelines for the control and prevention of meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in healthcare facilities.

Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) remains endemic in many UK hospitals. Specific guidelines for control and prevention are justified because MRSA causes serious illness and results in significant additional healthcare costs. Guidelines were drafted by a multi-disciplinary group and these have been finalised following extensive consultation. The recommendations have been graded according to the strength of evidence. Surveillance of MRSA should be undertaken in a systematic way and should be fed back routinely to healthcare staff. The inappropriate or unnecessary use of antibiotics should be avoided, and this will also reduce the likelihood of the emergence and spread of strains with reduced susceptibility to glycopeptides, i.e. vancomycin-intermediate S. aureus/glycopeptide-intermediate S. aureus (VISA/GISA) and vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA). Screening for MRSA carriage in selected patients and clinical areas should be performed according to locally agreed criteria based upon assessment of the risks and consequences of transmission and infection. Nasal and skin decolonization should be considered in certain categories of patients. The general principles of infection control should be adopted for patients with MRSA, including patient isolation and the appropriate cleaning and decontamination of clinical areas. Inadequate staffing, especially amongst nurses, contributes to the increased prevalence of MRSA. Laboratories should notify the relevant national authorities if VISA/GISA or VRSA isolates are identified.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2006

Prevalence surveys of healthcare-associated infections: what do they tell us, if anything?

Prevalence surveys of healthcare-associated infections offer advantages over incidence surveys, including the relative ease of performance, a reduced requirement for resources, the ability to include increased numbers of hospitals within a shorter period of time, and the possibility of more rapid data analysis and feedback. Prevalence surveys have also been shown to be useful in monitoring the effectiveness of infection control programmes. Prevalence surveys appear to be desirable when financial support, and/or the will to carry out incidence surveys, is lacking. However, it is imperative that prevalence surveys use standardised methodology and internationally recognised definitions of infection.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2006

Survey of recent medical graduates' knowledge and understanding of the treatment and prevention of infection.

With the increasing interest in infection and antibiotic resistance amongst the general public, we undertook to assess the knowledge, and understanding of the treatment and prevention of common infections in medical graduates, about to commence their intern or pre-registration year. A multiple choice-type questionnaire, which included 19 questions, was circulated to 199 recent graduates of three Irish medical schools and 108 (54.3%) were returned. Approximately 60% of the questions were answered correctly. However, questions on the use of antibiotics were poorly answered compared with other questions. With changes in the curricula of many medical schools, there is a need for better education on infection and the use of antibiotics as well as more sophisticated and validated methods of assessment.

Comprehension↗
PubMed2005

Third-generation cephalosporin resistance among Gram-negative bacilli causing meningitis in neurosurgical patients: significant challenges in ensuring effective antibiotic therapy.

OBJECTIVES: The treatment of meningitis caused by Gram-negative bacilli in neurosurgical patients is a major challenge because of the complexity of these patients, the emergence of antibiotic resistance in many of the causative organisms and the restricted choice of antibiotics suitable for use, owing to a failure to achieve high enough concentrations in the CSF. We reviewed the incidence, aetiology, treatment and outcome of all patients with Gram-negative bacillary meningitis (GNBM) in our centre over a 7 year period. METHODS: Beaumont Hospital, Dublin is a 720 bed tertiary referral hospital and contains the national neurosurgical centre for the Republic of Ireland. The case notes and microbiological records of all patients with GNBM between 1998 and 2004 inclusive were reviewed retrospectively. Only patients with positive CSF culture and clinical features compatible with meningitis were included. RESULTS: Forty separate episodes of GNBM involving 34 different patients occurred during the study period. The most common causative organisms were Enterobacter spp. (35%), Escherichia coli (22.5%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (15%). Twenty-five per cent of isolates were resistant to third-generation cephalosporins. The median duration of treatment was 19.2 days and a combination of intravenous and intraventricular antibiotics was the most common treatment regimen used. Mortality directly related to GNBM was 2.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Although the mortality directly related to GNBM was low, the emergence of strains resistant to third-generation cephalosporins represents a therapeutic challenge. Treatment with combined intravenous and intraventricular antibiotics is recommended for 2-3 weeks, but more studies are required to determine the optimal management of this difficult condition.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Environmental reservoirs of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in isolation rooms: correlation with patient isolates and implications for hospital hygiene.

Strategies to control and prevent the spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) include early identification of positive patients through screening, patient isolation, hand hygiene, nasal and skin decontamination, and the adequate cleaning and decontamination of clinical areas. However, many national and other guidelines provide few details on environmental decontamination regimens, partly because the role of the environment in the spread of MRSA is not well documented. We prospectively studied the environment of the isolation rooms of 25 MRSA patients for up to four weeks, sampling horizontal surfaces and the air using settle plates as well as an air sampler, while continuing regular daily cleaning according to the hospital protocol. We then typed 20 patient isolates and the corresponding environmental isolates (N=35) to assess the similarity of strains. A high proportion of samples were positive for MRSA; 269/502 (53.6%) surface samples, 70/250 (28%) air samples and 102/251 (40.6%) settle plates. Over half of the surface samples taken from the beds and the mattresses were positive for MRSA. Identical or closely related isolates were recovered from the patient and their environment in 14 (70%) patients, suggesting possible environmental contamination of the isolation rooms, possibly contributing to endemic MRSA. More effective and rigorous use of current approaches to cleaning and decontamination is required as well as consideration of newer technologies to eradicate MRSA and other hospital-acquired pathogens.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed2005

Diagnosis and treatment of prosthetic aortic graft infections: confusion and inconsistency in the absence of evidence or consensus.

Prosthetic aortic graft infections represent a major diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Although a combination of clinical assessment, imaging and microbiological investigations is usually helpful, there are no agreed criteria to confirm a diagnosis. Potential pathogens isolated from superficial specimens may be misleading but influence the choice of antimicrobial agents. Removal of the infected material is strongly recommended. However, this is not always possible in the very debilitated or clinically unstable patient. The choice of which antimicrobial agents to administer as empirical or definitive therapy and the duration of treatment are unclear. A multi-disciplinary group is required to offer guidance, based on what evidence there is, and to provide expert consensus (as is the case for infective endocarditis) to optimize the management of these difficult infections.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2005

Impact of the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System on the development of a national programme to monitor resistance in Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae in Ireland, 1999-2003.

Presented here is the 5-year impact of a national antimicrobial resistance surveillance system in Ireland, which was introduced in accordance with the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (EARSS). Participation in EARSS began in Ireland in 1999. Initially, 12 laboratories serving a mix of general and tertiary hospitals participated, but by 2003, participation had increased to 28 laboratories with a population coverage of 89%. During 1999-2003, 4,146 episodes of Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia were reported, and methicillin resistance was detected in 1,709 (41.2%) of these isolates. Over the same period, 1,245 invasive (blood or cerebrospinal fluid) episodes of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection were reported, and 160 (12.9%) isolates were found to be non-susceptible to penicillin, with 23 (1.8%) demonstrating high-level penicillin resistance. By 2003, most Irish hospitals were participating in EARSS, which has been a catalyst for the development of a national antimicrobial resistance surveillance programme.

Drug Resistance, Bacterial↗
PubMed2005

Surveillance of hospital water and primary prevention of nosocomial legionellosis: what is the evidence?

Hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease may be sporadic or may occur as part of an outbreak. As Legionella spp. are ubiquitous in many water systems, it is not surprising that hospital water may be colonized with Legionella pneumophila and other species. However, there is some controversy about the relationship between the presence of legionella in hospital water systems and nosocomial legionellosis. Primary prevention, i.e. measures to prevent legionella in a hospital or healthcare facility with no previous documented cases of nosocomial legionellosis, includes heightened awareness of hospital-acquired Legionnaires' disease with appropriate laboratory diagnostic facilities, and ensuring that the water system is well designed and maintained in accordance with national standards, e.g. the circulating hot water is maintained above 55 degrees C. Secondary prevention, i.e. preventing further cases occurring when a case has been confirmed, should include an investigation to exclude the hospital water system as a source. However, the necessity to sample hospital water routinely to detect legionella outside of outbreaks, i.e. as a component of primary prevention, is unclear. Some studies demonstrate a clear link but others do not. Differences between the patient populations studied, the methods of laboratory diagnosis of clinical cases, the analysis of hospital water and differences in the design of hospital water systems may partly explain this. Whilst further research, probably in the form of multi-centred prospective trials, is needed to confirm the relationship between environmental legionella and hospital-acquired legionellosis, including establishing the relative importance of L. pneumophila group 1 vs. non-group 1 and other Legionella spp., each hospital should consider the spectrum of patients at particular risk locally. Centres with transplant units or other patients with significant immunosuppression should, in the interim, consider routine sampling for legionella in hospital water in addition to other control measures. Therefore, infection control teams must work closely with hospital engineering and technical services departments and hospital management, as well as ensuring that physicians and others have a heightened awareness of hospital-acquired legionellosis.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2005

Survey of operating theatre ventilation facilities for minimally invasive surgery in Great Britain and Northern Ireland: current practice and considerations for the future.

Increasing use of minimally invasive surgery (MIS) and other invasive procedures has raised the question of what ventilation facilities are appropriate for such procedures to prevent infection. The Hospital Infection Society (HIS) Working Party on Infection Control in Operating Theatres undertook a survey of practice in Great Britain and Northern Ireland on the ventilation facilities provided for a variety of MIS and other procedures. Five hundred and fifty questionnaires were forwarded to HIS members, and 186 (39%) replies were received. Fifty-eight percent were from district general hospitals (DGHs). Designated theatres for orthopaedic surgery (although not necessarily ultraclean ventilated theatres) were available in more than 80% of hospitals, with approximately 50% of hospitals having designated theatres for a variety of other surgical subspecialities. Approximately two-thirds of urological procedures were performed in conventionally ventilated operating theatres. Most radiological procedures were performed in non-ventilated theatres or treatment rooms. In around half of the DGHs and university/referral hospitals, orthopaedic MIS procedures such as arthroscopy were performed in ultraclean ventilated theatres. This survey revealed considerable variation in the use of conventionally ventilated theatres and ultraclean ventilated theatres. In particular, many radiological and anaesthetic procedures are performed in treatment rooms or ventilated rooms with less than 20 air changes per hour. Whilst it is not clear whether this is acceptable practice given current knowledge, large-scale clinical trials to determine what standards of ventilation are appropriate to minimize infection for these types of procedures would be difficult to conduct. Research is needed on the relative risk of airborne infection for a variety of procedures, including whether all prosthetic implant procedures should be carried out in ultraclean ventilated theatres, as infection associated with implants is often of airborne origin and of considerable clinical significance.

Air Microbiology↗
PubMed2005

The genetics of staphylococcal biofilm formation--will a greater understanding of pathogenesis lead to better management of device-related infection?

Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus are common causes of biofilm-mediated prosthetic device-related infection. The polysaccharide adhesion mechanism encoded by the ica operon is currently the best understood mediator of biofilm development, and represents an important virulence determinant. More recently, the contributions of other virulence regulators, including the global regulators agr, sarA and sigmaB, to the biofilm phenotype have also been investigated. Nevertheless, little has changed at the bedside; the clinical and laboratory diagnosis of device-related infection can be difficult, and biofilm resistance frequently results in failure of therapy. This review assesses the way in which advances in the understanding of biofilm genetics may impact on the clinical management of device-related infection.

Adhesins, Bacterial↗