The Impact of Hospital Epidemiology on the Management and Control of Antimicrobial Resistance: Issues and Controversies

2007 ◽  
pp. 397-431
Author(s):  
August J. Valenti
Author(s):  
Johan Vekemans ◽  
Mateusz Hasso-Agopsowicz ◽  
Gagandeep Kang ◽  
William P Hausdorff ◽  
Anthony Fiore ◽  
...  

Abstract The growing burden of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) microbes constitutes a significant global threat. Vaccines are effective tools to prevent infections could help to control and prevent AMR. In this Viewpoint we present an Action Framework for vaccines to contribute fully, sustainably and equitably to the prevention and control of AMR by preventing infections and reducing antimicrobial use. The document identifies a series of priority actions in three areas: expanding the use of licensed vaccines to maximize impact on AMR, developing new vaccines that contribute to the prevention and control of AMR, and expanding and sharing knowledge about the impact of vaccines on AMR. The objective of this document is to support an alignment of activities among international vaccine and AMR partners, and structure and articulate key priority actions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 643-652 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guglielmo Giraldi ◽  
Marzietta Montesano ◽  
Christian Napoli ◽  
Paola Frati ◽  
Raffaele La Russa ◽  
...  

Background: The increasing antimicrobial resistance poses a challenge to surveillance systems and raises concerns about the impact of multidrug-resistant organisms on patient safety. Objective: The study aimed to estimate extra hospital stay and economic burden of infections due to alert organisms - mostly multidrug-resistant - in a teaching hospital. Methods: The present retrospective matched cohort study was conducted based on the analysis of hospital admissions at Sant’Andrea Teaching Hospital in Rome from April to December 2015. Extra hospital stay was the difference in the length of stay between each case and control. All the patients developing an infection due to an alert organism were considered cases, all others were eligible as controls. The costs of LOS were evaluated by multiplying the extra stay with the hospital daily cost. Results: Overall, 122 patients developed an infection due to alert organisms and were all matched with controls. The attributable extra stay was of 2,291 days (mean 18.8; median 19.0) with a significantly increased hospitalization in intensive care units (21.2 days), bloodstream infections (52.5 days), and infections due to Gram-negative bacteria (mean 29.2 days; median 32.6 days). Applying the single day hospital cost, the overall additional expenditure was 11,549 euro per patient. The average additional cost of antibiotic drugs for the treatment of infections was about 1,200 euro per patient. Conclusion: The present study presents an accurate mapping of the clinical and economic impact of infections attributable to alert organisms demonstrating that infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms are associated with higher mortality, longer hospital stays, and increased costs. Article Highlights Box: The increasing antimicrobial resistance poses a challenge for surveillance systems and raises concerns about the impact of multidrug-resistant organisms on patient safety. • Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) have historically been recognized as a significant public health problem requiring close surveillance. • Despite several and reliable findings have been achieved on clinical issues, our knowledge on the economic impact of healthcare-associated infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms needs to be widened. • Estimating the cost of infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms in terms of extra hospital stay and economic burden is complex, and the financial impact varies across different health systems. • Evaluations of social and economic implications of hospital infections play an increasingly important role in the implementation of surveillance systems. • The costs of infection prevention and control programs and dedicated personnel are relatively low and self-sustainable when efficient.


2011 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beat Meier ◽  
Anja König ◽  
Samuel Parak ◽  
Katharina Henke

This study investigates the impact of thought suppression over a 1-week interval. In two experiments with 80 university students each, we used the think/no-think paradigm in which participants initially learn a list of word pairs (cue-target associations). Then they were presented with some of the cue words again and should either respond with the target word or avoid thinking about it. In the final test phase, their memory for the initially learned cue-target pairs was tested. In Experiment 1, type of memory test was manipulated (i.e., direct vs. indirect). In Experiment 2, type of no-think instructions was manipulated (i.e., suppress vs. substitute). Overall, our results showed poorer memory for no-think and control items compared to think items across all experiments and conditions. Critically, however, more no-think than control items were remembered after the 1-week interval in the direct, but not in the indirect test (Experiment 1) and with thought suppression, but not thought substitution instructions (Experiment 2). We suggest that during thought suppression a brief reactivation of the learned association may lead to reconsolidation of the memory trace and hence to better retrieval of suppressed than control items in the long term.


Crisis ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 238-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul W. C. Wong ◽  
Wincy S. C. Chan ◽  
Philip S. L. Beh ◽  
Fiona W. S. Yau ◽  
Paul S. F. Yip ◽  
...  

Background: Ethical issues have been raised about using the psychological autopsy approach in the study of suicide. The impact on informants of control cases who participated in case-control psychological autopsy studies has not been investigated. Aims: (1) To investigate whether informants of suicide cases recruited by two approaches (coroners’ court and public mortuaries) respond differently to the initial contact by the research team. (2) To explore the reactions, reasons for participation, and comments of both the informants of suicide and control cases to psychological autopsy interviews. (3) To investigate the impact of the interviews on informants of suicide cases about a month after the interviews. Methods: A self-report questionnaire was used for the informants of both suicide and control cases. Telephone follow-up interviews were conducted with the informants of suicide cases. Results: The majority of the informants of suicide cases, regardless of the initial route of contact, as well as the control cases were positive about being approached to take part in the study. A minority of informants of suicide and control cases found the experience of talking about their family member to be more upsetting than expected. The telephone follow-up interviews showed that none of the informants of suicide cases reported being distressed by the psychological autopsy interviews. Limitations: The acceptance rate for our original psychological autopsy study was modest. Conclusions: The findings of this study are useful for future participants and researchers in measuring the potential benefits and risks of participating in similar sensitive research. Psychological autopsy interviews may be utilized as an active engagement approach to reach out to the people bereaved by suicide, especially in places where the postvention work is underdeveloped.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P. Jenkins ◽  
Neville A. Stanton ◽  
Paul M. Salmon ◽  
Guy H. Walker

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
O. Zhukorskyy ◽  
O. Hulay

Aim. To estimate the impact of in vivo secretions of water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica) on the popula- tions of pathogenic bacteria Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae. Methods. The plants were isolated from their natural conditions, the roots were washed from the substrate residues and cultivated in laboratory conditions for 10 days to heal the damage. Then the water was changed; seven days later the selected samples were sterilized using fi lters with 0.2 μm pore diameter. The dilution of water plantain root diffusates in the experimental samples was 1:10–1:10,000. The initial density of E. rhusiopathiae bacteria populations was the same for both experimental and control samples. The estimation of the results was conducted 48 hours later. Results. When the dilution of root diffusates was 1:10, the density of erysipelothrixes in the experimental samples was 11.26 times higher than that of the control, on average, the dilution of 1:100 − 6.16 times higher, 1:1000 – 3.22 times higher, 1:10,000 – 1.81 times higher, respectively. Conclusions. The plants of A. plantago-aquatica species are capable of affecting the populations of E. rhusiopathiae pathogenic bacteria via the secretion of biologically active substances into the environment. The consequences of this interaction are positive for the abovementioned bacteria, which is demon- strated by the increase in the density of their populations in the experiment compared to the control. The intensity of the stimulating effect on the populations of E. rhusiopathiae in the root diffusates of A. plantago-aquatica is re- ciprocally dependent on the degree of their dilution. The investigated impact of water plantain on erysipelothrixes should be related to the topical type of biocenotic connections, the formation of which between the test species in the ecosystems might promote maintaining the potential of natural focus of rabies. Keywords: Alisma plantago-aquatica, in vivo secretions, Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, population density, topical type of connections.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Zhukorskiy ◽  
O. Gulay ◽  
V. Gulay ◽  
N. Tkachuk

Aim. To determine the response of the populations of Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae and Leptospira interrogans pathogenic microorganisms to the impact of broadleaf cattail (Thypha latifolia) root diffusates. Methods. Aqueous solutions of T. latifolia root diffusates were sterilized by vacuum fi ltration through the fi lters with 0.2-micron pore diameter. The experimental samples contained cattail secretions, sterile water, and cultures of E. rhusiopathiae or L. interrogans. The same amount of sterile water, as in the experimental samples, was used for the purpose of control, and the same quantity of microbial cultures was added in it. After exposure, the density of cells in the experimental and control samples was determined. Results. Root diffusates of T. latifolia caused an increase in cell density in the populations of E. rhusiopathiae throughout the whole range of the studied dilutions (1:10–1:10000). In the populations of the 6 studied serological variants of L. interrogans spirochetes (pomona, grippotyphosa, copenhageni, kabura, tarassovi, canicola), the action of broadleaf cattail root diffusates caused the decrease in cell density. A stimulatory effect was marked in the experimental samples of the pollonica serological variant of leptospira. Conclusions. The populations of E. rhusiopathiae and L. interrogans pathogenic microorganisms respond to the allelopathic effect of Thypha latifolia by changing the cell density. The obtained results provide the background to assume that broadleaf cattail thickets create favorable conditions for the existence of E. rhusiopathiae pathogen bacteria. The reduced cell density of L. interrogans in the experimental samples compared to the control samples observed under the infl uence of T. latifolia root diffusates suggests that reservoirs with broadleaf cattail thickets are marked by the unfavorable conditions for the existence of pathogenic leptospira (except L. pollonica).


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