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At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
PubMed1995

Interferon-gamma therapy for infection control in chronic granulomatous disease.

Interferon (IFN)-gamma was subcutaneously administered to four patients with chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) in order to evaluate its effects in controlling infection. Patients 1 to 3 were all males, while patient 4 was female. In patients 2 and 4, the length of infection-associated hospitalization during the year of IFN therapy was significantly shorter than that during the whole observed period prior to IFN therapy. In patients 1 and 2, the length of hospitalization during a year of IFN therapy was shorter than that during 1 year prior to the therapy. Patient 3 exhibited no reduction in terms of the length of infectious disease during IFN therapy, because he suffered from a liver abscess before and during the therapy. As soon as the IFN therapy was stopped, patient 2 developed pneumonia and lymphadenitis, which were promptly relieved by readministering the agent. During 1 year of IFN therapy, patients 1, 2 and 4 showed no significant changes in either the nitroblue tetrazolium test, O2- production or the expression of NADPH oxidase components in neutrophils. On the other hand, the O2- generating ability of neutrophils from patient 3 slightly increased. Our limited observations suggest that IFN-gamma may be variably beneficial for infection control in CGD-patients, irrespective of the in vitro phagocyte functions. A longer follow-up time is needed to confirm the IFN response in CGD-patients.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

Variation in administrators' and clinicians' attitudes toward critical elements of an infection control program and the role of the infection control practitioner in New South Wales, Australia.

BACKGROUND: Debate remains over the core activities of infection control (IC) programs. Differences in stakeholder opinions must be considered if consensus panel guidelines and recommendations are to be broadly applied. This article describes a survey of administrators and clinicians employed in hospitals in New South Wales, Australia. Respondents self-reported their levels of agreement with affirmative statements regarding the role of the infection control practitioner (ICP) and the essential requirements and infrastructure of IC programs. METHOD: The study population included administrators and clinicians in each public, private, and freestanding day hospital in New South Wales. Respondents reported the intensity of their agreement with 16 affirmative statements relating to IC program infrastructure and resources and the ICP's role and responsibilities. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 62.1% (587/945). Clinicians (349/587) and administrators (238/587) accounted for 59.5% and 40.5% of the response rate, respectively. Overall, administrators and clinicians reported greatest levels of agreement for those elements not requiring additional resources. CONCLUSION: The extent of divergence between administrators and clinicians is not so great that it can not be resolved. Our findings demonstrate the degree of administrator support that clinicians can expect for each element. We advocate better communication between clinicians and administrators in conjunction with objective strategic planning. Our findings provide a guide for ICPs to either establish or negotiate the core components of their IC program.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed2000

Strategic planning for infection control.

Proper infection control procedures help to protect dental practitioners, patients, and the surrounding community. The two basic goals of dental asepsis are simple and straightforward: minimize the spread of potentially pathogenic microorganisms and neutralize organisms that have contaminated dental instruments, equipment, and other office environmental surfaces. Meeting these goals, however, can be complicated. A valuable tool would be the generation and maintenance of a written set of infection control procedures ("an office infection control manual"). One way to organize a procedures manual is to arrange required tasks in response to specific pathways of cross-infection. Also, the effectiveness of an infection control program can be positively affected by office design.

Community-Acquired Infections↗
PubMed2004

Environmental surface infection control, 2003.

Infection control guidelines address the routine use of disposable covers and cleaning and disinfecting treatment-area surfaces contaminated during patient care. While the rationale and approaches for accomplishing environmental surface disinfection have been considered in many previous infection control recommendations, exaggerated claims have led to some confusion regarding the wide variety of available surface covers and disinfectant products. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Guideline for Infection Control in Dental Health-Care Settings, 2003, considers the current state of scientific and clinical knowledge in environmental infection control, reinforce basic principles, and provide updated recommendations aimed at minimizing the potential for microbial cross-contamination and cross-infection from inanimate surfaces.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed2002

[Infection control team].

Infection control(IC) is a quality-improvement activity that focuses on improving the care of patients and protecting the health of staff. The infection control committee(ICC) should function as the central decision-making and policy-making body for IC. The infection control team(ICT) is responsible for carrying out all aspects of the IC program. ICT should have appropriate access to medical relevant staff members who can provide information on the adequacy of the institution's compliance with regard to IC programs. Healthcare facilities should use ICT to assist in maintaining compliance with IC programs. Surveillance of hospital-acquired infections should be performed and surveillance data should be analyzed appropriately and used to monitor and improve IC and healthcare outcomes.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1993

A clinical infection control audit programme: evaluation of an audit tool used by infection control nurses to monitor standards and assess effective staff training.

In today's competitive market infection control teams are under increasing pressure from purchasing authorities to provide hard data on quality issues. The initial aim of this study was to determine whether a modified form of the audit system used to monitor infection control standards in Derbyshire could be used effectively across three district health authorities. Infection control nurses in each of the study districts have different approaches to training with only Stafford using a link nurse system. Our additional aim therefore was to examine the relationship between the knowledge base of nursing staff and their ward audit score, and to determine whether wards with link nurses achieved significantly higher scores. To establish this a questionnaire was devised and completed by three different grades of staff on each ward at the time of the audit. These results were fed back to the wards and to managers by the infection control nurse, and an action plan given with a review date where applicable. Results of the study indicated that the audit tool could be used effectively in any district but would need modifying for psychiatric departments. The value of education in improving standards of infection control was clearly demonstrated. An important finding in Stafford was that wards with link nurses obtained significantly higher scores. The value of using such a clinically based audit will be discussed.

England↗
PubMed2001

[Hospital infection control in the 21st century--importance of network for hospital infection control and role of clinical laboratory].

The clinical laboratory is important as a department which provides diagnostic and advisory services to clinicians and support surveillance for hospital infection control. Though the link between clinical laboratory and other departments including infection control team is paramount for infection control, there are the communication delays by the documented reports. The use of the hospital information system can streamline the work of infection control, because laboratory(including microbiology) data can be obtained quickly. In order to implement efficient infection control, it is necessary to construct the information network by utilizing the local area network in the hospital. Since the community-acquired infections due to resistant micro-organisms are increasing in 1990s, we should expand the information network in community and nation-wide in the 21st century.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed2000

Australian Infection Control Association members' use of skills and resources that promote evidence-based infection control.

BACKGROUND: To adopt an evidence-based approach, professionals must be able to access, identify, interpret, and critically appraise best evidence. Critical appraisal requires essential skills, such as computer literacy and an understanding of research principles. These skills also are required for professionals to contribute to evidence. METHODS: In 1996, members of the Australian Infection Control Association were surveyed to establish a profile including the extent to which they were reading infection control publications, using specific documents for policy and guideline development, developing and undertaking research, publishing research, and using computers. The relationships between demographics, computer use, and research activity were examined. RESULTS: The response rate was 63. 4% (630/993). The study group comprised mostly women (96.1%), and most (66.4%) were older than 40 years of age. Median infection control experience was 4 years (mean, 5.4 years; range, <12 months to 35 years). When developing guidelines and policies (92.7%; 584/630), infection control professionals reviewed State Health Department Infection Control Guidelines and Regulations. Research relating to infection control was undertaken by 21.5% (135/628) of the sample, and 27.6% (37/134) of this group published their research findings. Of the respondents (51.1%; 318/622) who used a computer to undertake infection control tasks, the majority (89.0%) used a personal computer for word processing. CONCLUSION: Regardless of infection control experience, Australian infection control professionals must be adequately prepared to contribute to, access, appraise, and where appropriate, apply best evidence to their practice. We suggest that computer literacy, an understanding of research principles, and familiarity with infection control literature are three essential skills that infection control professionals must possess and regularly exercise.

Adult↗
PubMed1985

Cost-effective application of the Centers for Disease Control Guideline for Infection Control in Hospital Personnel.

I have tried to summarize the spirit of the Centers for Disease Control Guideline for Infection Control in Hospital Personnel. By eliminating certain unnecessary practices and preventing one infectious disease, we could have saved the hospital in these examples more than $18,000 in just 1 year. We must continue to evaluate and eliminate unnecessary practices while maintaining a safe environment for our employees.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.↗
PubMed1991

Information in infection control.

Effective infection control depends upon a clear understanding of the activities of surveillance, control, communication and management and of the nature and source of information required. Surveillance uses diverse information and computerization of hospital information provides the potential for automated detection of patients at risk of, or affected by, nosocomial infection. Routine visits to all hospital wards by the infection control team is widely advocated but is an inefficient use of a limited resource. 'Targeting' clinical areas with particular problems is more efficient but requires the means to find cases and perform risk assessment through surveillance. While microbiology laboratory reports are effective for case finding, sensitivity and specificity are low. The increasing use of computer held clinical data presents new opportunities for automated surveillance to guide the daily activities of the infection control team. It is essential to stress the importance of infection surveillance to those designing hospital information systems.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1998

Statistical quality control methods in infection control and hospital epidemiology, part I: Introduction and basic theory.

This article is the first in a two-part series discussing and illustrating the application of statistical process control (SPC) to processes often examined by hospital epidemiologists. The basic philosophical and theoretical foundations of statistical quality control and their relation to epidemiology are emphasized in order to expand mutual understanding and cross-fertilization between these two disciplines. Part I provides an overview of quality engineering and SPC, illustrates common types of control charts, and provides references for further information or statistical formulae. Part II discusses statistical properties of control charts, issues of chart design and optimal control limit widths, alternate possible SPC approaches to infection control, some common misunderstandings, and more advanced issues. The focus of both articles is mostly non-mathematical, emphasizing important concepts and practical examples rather than academic theory and exhaustive calculations.

Humans↗