Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T08:37:45.923Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Isolation for the control of infection in skin wards

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 October 2009

W. C. Noble
Affiliation:
St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, Institute of Dermatology, Homerton Grove, London E9 6BX
Pamela M. White
Affiliation:
St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, Institute of Dermatology, Homerton Grove, London E9 6BX
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

An isolation policy in a hospital for skin diseases is reported. Patients carrying penicillin- and tetracycline-resistant organisms were to be isolated in single rooms, though barrier nursing was not practised. The policy failed because the single beds rapidly became blocked with long-stay patients and because even in a single-bed unit patients acquired staphylococci within 3–7 days of admission. Patients with skin diseases often do not feel ‘ill’ and resent isolation.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

References

REFERENCES

Ayliffe, G. A. J. & Collins, B. J. (1967). Wound infections acquired from a disperser of an unusual strain of Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Clinical Patlwlogy 20, 195.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Biro, L., Buchbinder, L., Goldberg, S., Pellitteri, O. J. & Gibbs, R. C. (1960). A staphylococcal disease outbreak in a dermatological service. Bacteriological studies; effect of prior systemic therapy. Archives of Dermatology 82, 740.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Biro, L., Gibbs, R. C. & Leider, M. (1960). Staphylococcal infection. A study of incidence on a dormatological ward. Archives of Dermatology 82, 205.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hurst, V. & Grossman, M. (1960). The hospital nursery as a source of staphylococcal disease among families of newborn infants. New England Journal of Medicine 262, 951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Noble, V. C. (1970). The significance of secondary infection in a skin hospital. Transactions of the St John's Hospital Dermatological Society 56, 26.Google Scholar
Nystrom, B. & Molin, L. (1972). Colonization with staphylococci in dermatology wards with different designs and practices. British Journal of Dermatology, Supplement no. 8, p. 21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, M. T., John, M., Emond, R. T. D. & Machacek, K. A. (1965). Acquisition of Staphylococcus aureus by patients in cubicles. British Medical Journal i, 1101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, R. W. (1967). Severe outbreak of surgical sepsis due to Staphylococcus aureus of unusual type and origin. British Medical Journal ii, 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Public Health Laboratory Service (1960). Incidence of surgical wound infection in England and “Wales. Lancet ii, 559.Google Scholar
Selwyn, S. (1963). Bacterial infections in a skin department. British Journal of Dermatology 75, 26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Selwyn, S. (1965). Tho mechanism and prevention of cross-infection in dermatological wards. Journal of Hygiene 63, 59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wentworth, F. H., Miller, A. L. & Wentworth, B. B. (1958). Observations relative to tho naturo and control of staphylococcal disease. American Journal of Public Health 48, 287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. E. O. (1966). Epidemiology of airborne staphylococcal infection. Bacteriological Reviews 30, 660.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilson, P. E., White, P. M. & Noble, W. C. (1971). Infections in a hospital for patients with diseases of the skin. Journal of Hygiene 69, 125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar