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Study: Transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria between ICU patients may rise

Infection Control Monitor, January 16, 2004

Researchers say unless hygiene practices improve, the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacteria from one intensive care unit (ICU) patient to another will become more common, according to Drug Week.

Researchers in a study from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that 70% of ICU patients studied were colonized with bacteria from other patients in the unit. The study shows there is an "unexpectedly high" level of transmission of bacteria among ICU patients. These types of patients are more susceptible to picking up infections because of their poor health.

"Local guidelines for antibiotic use, close cooperation with infectious disease specialists, and restrictions with invasive treatment are strategies that can help improve infection control and lower the incidence of hospital infections," researchers concluded. "Hand hygiene among hospital staff is also an important factor for preventing these infections."

In one troubling incident involving subjects of the study, one patient passed on bacteria to another patient who had arrived three weeks after the first patient had been discharged. Researchers say this suggests that the bacterial strain had survived in the ICU during this period.

The types of bacteria strains investigated in the study "have the ability to survive in the ICU surroundings on medical devices and equipment for weeks up to months. They are specifically prone to causing catheter-related infections," researchers say.

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