Dive Brief:
- A group of hospitals in Chicago has found a way to slash carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infection rates by half.
- On Friday, the White House charged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with decreasing infection rates from antibiotic-resistant bacteria by the year 2020.
- The CDC is looking to the Chicago study, which is one of five such programs that has received CDC funding to coordinate research between local scientists and public health officials.
Dive Insight:
The program utilized strict surveillance measures. All patients were tested for CRE at admission and again two weeks later. Patients who were colonized were put in isolation, either alone or with other patients who were infected with CRE. Staff were required to wear personal protective equipment while tending to patients. Infected patients were also bathed in chlorhexidine gluconate. At the end of the three-year study, CRE infections had fallen by half.
Dr. Michael Lin, an infectious disease expert at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told Reuters the exact protocol might not be suitable for the average US hospital, but it shows how a focused strategy can help the CDC reach its goals.