scholarly journals Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE) in Canada – Results of the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program 1996 VRE Point Prevalence Surveillance Project

1997 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 73-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Elisabeth Ofner-Agostini ◽  
John Conly ◽  
Shirley Paton ◽  
Amar Kureishi ◽  
Lindsay Nicolle ◽  
...  
2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 271-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marianna Ofner-Agostini ◽  
B. Lynn Johnston ◽  
Andrew E. Simor ◽  
John Embil ◽  
Anne Matlow ◽  
...  

Surveillance for vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) in sentinel Canadian hospitals has been conducted since 1999. From 1999 to 2005, the rate of VRE detection increased from 0.37 to 1.32 cases per 1,000 patients admitted, and the rate of VRE infection increased from 0.02 to 0.05 cases per 1,000 patients admitted. Thirty-three percent of all patients with VRE detected that were reported during 1999-2005 were identified in 2005, with increases seen in all regions of Canada. Although the incidence rate of VRE carriage in Canada is increasing, it remains very low.


2001 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meaghen Hyland ◽  
Marianna Ofner-Agostini ◽  
Mark Miller ◽  
Shirley Paton ◽  
Marie Gourdeau ◽  
...  

BACKGROUND:A 1996 preproject survey among Canadian Hospital Epidemiology Committee (CHEC) sites revealed variations in the prevention, detection, management and surveillance ofClostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD). Facilities wanted to establish national rates of nosocomially acquired CDAD (N-CDAD) to understand the impact of control or prevention measures, and the burden of N-CDAD on health care resources. The CHEC, in collaboration with the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (Health Canada) and under the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program, undertook a prevalence surveillance project among selected hospitals throughout Canada.OBJECTIVE:To establish national prevalence rates of N-CDAD.METHODS:For six weeks in 1997, selected CHEC sites tested all diarrheal stools from inpatients for eitherC difficiletoxin orC difficilebacteria with evidence of toxin production. Questionnaires were completed for patients with positive stool assays who met the case definitions.RESULTS:Nineteen health care facilities in eight provinces participated in the project. The overall prevalence of N-CDAD was 13.0% (95% CI 9.5% to 16.5%). The mean number of N-CDAD cases were 66.3 cases/100,000 patient days (95% CI


1999 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elise M. Jochimsen ◽  
Laurie Fish ◽  
Kelly Manning ◽  
Sally Young ◽  
Daniel A. Singer ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To evaluate the efficacy of patient and staff cohorting to control vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at an Indianapolis community hospital.Design:To interrupt transmission of VRE, a VRE point-prevalence survey of hospital inpatients was conducted, and VRE-infected or -colonized patients were cohorted on a single ward with dedicated nursing staff and patient-care equipment. To assess the impact of the intervention, staff compliance with contact isolation procedures was observed, and the VRE point-prevalence survey was repeated 2 months after the cohort ward was established.Results:Following the establishment of the cohort ward, VRE prevalence among all hospitalized inpatients decreased from 8.1% to 4.7% (25 positive cultures among 310 patients compared to 13 positive cultures among 276 patients,P=.14); VRE prevalence among patients whose VRE status was unknown before cultures were obtained decreased from 5.9% to 0.8% (18 positive cultures among 303 patients compared to 2 positive cultures among 262 patients,P=.002); and observed staff-patient interactions compliant with published isolation recommendations increased (5 [22%] of 23 interactions compared to 36 [88%] of 41 interactions,P<.0001).Conclusions:Our data suggest that, in hospitals with endemic VRE or continued VRE transmission despite implementation of contact isolation measures, establishing a VRE cohort ward may be a practical and effective method to improve compliance with infection control measures and thereby to control epidemic or endemic VRE transmission.


Author(s):  
Jona Gjevori ◽  
Kahina Abdesselam

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the most prevalent nosocomial pathogens globally, causing significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. MRSA bloodstream infection (BSI) incidence rates in Canadian hospitals have significantly risen by almost 60% and have a mortality of over 20% upon Intensive Care Unit admission. MRSA is believed to be spread through healthcare workers; thus, high hand hygiene compliancy in addition to environmental cleaning are the cornerstone countermeasures to disrupting its transmission. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), in collaboration with the Canadian Nosocomial Infection Surveillance Program (CNISP), conducts national, sentinel surveillance on healthcare-associated infections like MRSA. As a Student Epidemiologist, I developed a research proposal detailing two study objectives: 1) develop a regression model to predict all incident MRSA BSI rates among acute-care hospitals in Canada using CNISP MRSA BSI incident cases from 2000 to 2019, and 2) create a compartmental (Susceptible-Infected-Recovered-Deceased) model to determine the impact of various Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures on the risk of healthcare-associated MRSA BSI transmission specifically. This study hopes to demonstrate that proper IPC compliance is associated with lower incident MRSA BSI rates with the goal being to produce a manuscript draft by 2021. MRSA poses a serious threat to patient safety globally and is becoming a growing national public health concern in Canada; determining which IPC strategy is most effective at disrupting MRSA transmission is essential to reducing incidence and mortality rates.


2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (5) ◽  
pp. 391-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ray Hachem ◽  
Linda Graviss ◽  
Hend Hanna ◽  
Rebecca Arbuckle ◽  
Tanya Dvorak ◽  
...  

AbstractObjective:To determine the impact of stool surveillance cultures of critically ill patients on controlling vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) outbreak bacteremia.Design:Stool surveillance cultures were performed on patients who had hematologic malignancy or were critically ill at the time of hospital admission to identify those colonized with VRE. Hence, contact isolation was initiated.Setting:A tertiary-care cancer center with a high prevalence of VRE.Participants:All patients with hematologic malignancy who were admitted to the hospital as well as all of those admitted to the intensive care unit were eligible.Results:Active stool surveillance cultures performed between 1997 and 2001 decreased the incidence density of VRE bacteremias eightfold while vancomycin use remained constant. In fiscal year (FY) 1997 and FY 1998, there were five and three VRE outbreak bacteremias, respectively. The outbreak clones were responsible for infection in 69% of those patients with VRE bacteremia. However, the stool surveillance program resulted in the complete control of VRE bacteremia by FY 1999 until the end of the study.Conclusion:Despite the steady use of vancomycin, the active surveillance program among high-risk patients with hematologic malignancy and those who were critically ill resulted in the complete control of VRE outbreak bacteremia at our institution.


2011 ◽  
Vol 44 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-632
Author(s):  
Vlademir Cantarelli ◽  
Bianca Cavalcante ◽  
Diogo André Pilger ◽  
Fabiana Souza ◽  
Cícero Gomes Dias ◽  
...  

INTRODUCTION: Laboratory-based surveillance is an important component in the control of vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE). METHODS: The study aimed to evaluate real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) (genes vanA-vanB) for VRE detection on 115 swabs from patients included in a surveillance program. RESULTS: Sensitivity of RT-PCR was similar to primary culture (75% and 79.5%, respectively) when compared to broth enriched culture, whereas specificity was 83.1%. CONCLUSIONS: RT-PCR provides same day results, however it showed low sensitivity for VRE detection.


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