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Sharing is not always a good thing: Use of a DNA marker to investigate the potential for ward-to-ward dissemination of healthcare-associated pathogens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2018

Heba Alhmidi ,
Jennifer L. Cadnum ,
Annette L. Jencson ,
Ali Abdulfatah Gweder  and
Curtis J. Donskey
Heba Alhmidi
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Jennifer L. Cadnum
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Annette L. Jencson
Affiliation:
Research Service, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio
Ali Abdulfatah Gweder
Affiliation:
Department of Medicine, Zawia University Hospital, Zawia, Libya
Curtis J. Donskey*
Affiliation:
Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center, Cleveland VA Medical Center, Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio
*
Author for correspondence: Curtis J. Donskey MD, Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 10701 East Boulevard, Cleveland, Ohio 44106. E-mail: Curtis.Donskey@va.gov
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Abstract

A DNA marker inoculated onto portable equipment on a medical ward was disseminated to other wards when equipment was shared and to a physician work room and the hospital cafeteria by personnel. These results demonstrate the plausibility of pathogen transmission in healthcare facilities in the absence of shared ward exposure.

Type
Concise Communication
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , February 2019 , pp. 214 - 216
Copyright
© 2018 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved. 

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Footnotes

Cite this article: Alhmidi H, et al. (2019). Sharing is not always a good thing: Use of a DNA marker to investigate the potential for ward-to-ward dissemination of healthcare-associated pathogens. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology 2019, 40, 214–216. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.320

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