Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-m8qmq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T18:16:48.222Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Staphylococcal infection in an intensive-care unit, and its relation to infection in the remainder of the hospital

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 May 2009

D. M. Harris
D. M. Harris
Affiliation:
Department of Bacteriology, Royal Hospital, Sheffield
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.

A survey of the staphylococcal infections occurring in a general hospital over a period of four and a half years showed that multiple-resistant strains of phage type 77 were endemic in the medical and surgical wards. Strains of this phage type were uncommon among patients attending the casualty department, and those found were usually either fully sensitive to antibiotics or resistant to benzyl-penicillin only. Regular monitoring of patients admitted to the intensive-care unit showed that 58 % of staphylococcal infections in such patients were present at the time of admission to the unit. Although the wards thus constituted a significant reservoir of infection for the intensive-care unit, there was no evidence to suggest that the return of patients from the unit to the wards was responsible for the transfer of infection in the opposite direction. The possibility of reducing the numbers of multiple-resistant staphylococci in the general wards, by the screening of all new admissions for the presence of tetracycline-resistant strains, appears to be impracticable in this area.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Hygiene , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , June 1973 , pp. 341 - 348
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1973

References

REFERENCES

Blair, J. E. & Williams, R. E. O. (1961). Phage-typing of staphylococci. Bulletin of the World Health Organization 24, 771.Google Scholar
Colquhoun, J. & Harris, D. M. (1971). Problems of infection in an intensive care unit. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 64, 1281.Google Scholar
Goldstein, E. & Green, G. M. (1966). The effect of acute renal failure on the bacterial clearance mechanisms of the lung. Journal of Laboratory and Clinical Medicine 68, 531.Google Scholar
Green, G. M. & Kass, E. H. (1964). Factors influencing the clearance of bacteria by the lung. Journal of Clinical Investigation 43, 769.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Harris, D. M. (1970). Clinical implications of methicillin-resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. Guy's Hospital Reports 119, 145.Google ScholarPubMed
Harris, D. M., Orwin, J. M., Colquhoun, J. & Schroeder, H. G. (1969). Control of cross-infection in an intensive care unit. Journal of Hygiene 67, 525.Google Scholar
Jensen, K. & Lassen, H. C. A. (1969). Combined treatment with antibacterial chemotherapeutical agents in staphylococcal infections. Quarterly Journal of Medicine 358, 91.Google Scholar
Klastersky, J., Beuner, J., & Daneau, D. (1971). Bacteriophage typing and antibiotic susceptibility of Staph. Aureus. Applied Microbiology 22, 1000.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Price, D. J. E. & Sleigh, J. D. (1970). Control of infection due to Klebsiella aerogenes in a neurosurgical unit by withdrawal of antibiotics. Lancet ii, 1213.Google Scholar
Rountree, P. M. & Beard, M. A. (1968). Sources of sepsis in an intensive care unit. Medical Journal of Australia 1, 577.Google Scholar
Stokes, E. J., Thompson, R. E. M., Parker, M. J., Bradley, J. M., Hitchcock, N. M. & Walker, J. S. (1972). Hospital staphylococci in three London teaching hospitals. Lancet i, 84.Google Scholar
Williams, R. E. O. & Rippon, J. E. (1952). Bacteriophage typing of Staphylococcus aureus. Journal of Hygiene 50, 320.Google Scholar
Wright, G. W. (1961). Structure and function of the respiratory tract in relation to infection. Bacteriological Reviews 25, 219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed