ADVIN.ORG - Association for the Défense of Victims of Nosocomial Infections

Source: TGen, the translational Genomenic Research Intitute, April,15 2011

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — April 15, 2011 — Drug-resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria linked to a wide range of human diseases, are present in meat and poultry from U.S. grocery stores at unexpectedly high rates, according to a nationwide study by the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen). Nearly half of the meat and poultry samples — 47 percent — were contaminated with S. aureus, and more than half of those bacteria — 52 percent — were resistant to at least three classes of antibiotics, according to the study published today in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

The study was published in the « Clinical Infectious Diseases» magazine.

Figaro Magazine has just released its 2011 ratings for French hospitals. This study involves 1256 public and private hospitals. At the national level, hospitals are evaluated according to their general management performance. At the regional level, the best health centers are those that deliver the best quality of care with low rates of hospital-acquired infections, as well as those officialy certified by the Haute Autorité de Santé, a public organism that certifies hospitals.The evaluation is carried out every 4 years by independant experts.

3 points to be noted:

• A high level of attention is being given to cancer in terms of prevention, treatment, and research.

• The rates of hospital-associated infections have gradually gone down, and are being maintained even in large University Hospitals that are more difficult to manage due to their size and complexity. France has one of the lowest rate of hospital-acquired infections in Europe with an average rate of 4,9%.

• There is no significant difference between the results of private and public centers. It should be noted that in France, patients may choose to be hospitalized in a public or private institution. Costs are paid by the Social Health Organism (public Medicare). Private hospitals in France are legally obligated to cover all patients and all pathologies just as public hospitals.

Source: Infection Control Today (ICT), April 2011

«One good housekeeper can prevent more diseases than a dozen doctors can cure. Some patients are so ill that a healthcare-associated infection (HAI) can take a patient's life, even if there were a room full of doctors to provide treatment. Just as medical personnel care for patients, environmental services (ES) professionals work to keep hospitals healthy. This article is a nuts-and-bolts piece meant to improve the health of healthcare facilities. There are a few basic things we need to do to make ES departments effective -- proper hiring and training of staff, adequate design of ES work areas, accurate appraisal of task loads, and concise time management of the frontline staff.»

 Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem but one that is becoming more dangerous; urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic era. April 7th, World Health Day 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) calls on governments and stakeholders to implement the policies and practices needed to prevent and counter the emergence of microorganisms resistant to current therapies.