A helpful new study has combined shoe-leather epi and WGS to establish a transmission rate of CPE in hospitalised patients. Overall, 3 (2%) of 152 exposed patients ended up colonised with the same CPE from 47 index patient exposures. None of the 54 exposed staff ended up colonised with CPE. This transmission rate is a bit lower than I would have expected, but it’s also not zero!
Continue readingCP-CRE
How often does colonization precede infection with MDR-GNB and VRE?
Ever found yourself wondering how often colonization precedes infection with MDR-GNB and VRE? A new systematic review and meta-regression in Lancet ID gives us a pretty solid answer: about 14% of MDR-GNB and 8% for VRE. This information is helpful for us to qualify the significance of acquiring these organisms in healthcare settings.
Continue readingCPE infection prevention and control guidelines: an update
Since writing this 2015 review on gaps and controversies in the guidelines for the prevention and control of CPE (and other MDR-GNR) I’ve tried to keep it fairly up to date. So, here’s the latest iteration, including the 2015 CDC guidelines.
Cheap and slow (culture) is usually better than fast and expensive (PCR) for CPE screening: Bertha says so!
BMC Medicine has published some research from our group reporting the findings of a mathematical model comparing various approaches to screening for CPE carriage. The model compared how several operational metrics varied with different approaches to screening (‘slow and cheap’ laboratory culture vs. ‘fast and expensive’ PCR) and in various specialties with variable levels of compliance with CPE admission screening and at various levels of admission prevalence of CPE. The main conclusion was that culture proved to be the best approach in most scenarios, balancing risk and resource.
Reflections on Infection Prevention and Control 