Background: Recently, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) have markedly increased, but no infection control policy has been established in South Korea. We investigated the current HAI surveillance system and executed a point-prevalence pilot study in LTCHs. Methods: HAIs were defined by newly established surveillance manual based on McGeer criteria revised in 2012. Three LTCHs in Seoul and Gyeonggi province were voluntarily recruited, and data were collected from up to 50 patients who were hospitalized on August 1. The medical records from September to November 2018 were retrospectively reviewed by a charge nurse for infection control per each hospitals after 1 day of training specific for LTCH surveillance. All data were reviewed by a senior researcher visiting onsite. Results: The participating hospitals had 272.33 ± 111.01 beds. Only 1 hospital had an onsite microbiological laboratory. In total, 156 patients were enrolled and 5 HAIs were detected, for a prevalence rate of 3.2%. The average patient age was 79.04 ± 9.92 years. The HAIs included 2 urinary tract infections, skin and soft-tissue infection, low respiratory infection, and conjunctivitis. Conclusions: This is the first survey of HAI in LTCHs in South Korea. The 3.2% prevalence rate is lower than those from previous reports from the European Union or the United States. This study supports the development of a national HAI surveillance and infection control system in LTCHs, although implementation may be limited due to the lack of laboratory support and infection control infrastructure in Korea.

Funding: None

Disclosures: None

During the past decade, carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) has emerged and spread across the world.1 The major carbapenemase enzymes currently being reported are KPC, NDM-1, VIM, IMP, and OXA.2 Because carbapenemase can be effectively transmitted via mobile genetic elements, and current therapeutic options for CPE infections are extremely limited, CPE may be one of the most serious contemporary threats to public health. However, very little is known about the characteristics of CPE carriage during hospitalization. The aims of this study were to investigate the clearance rate of CPE carriage and determine the number of consecutive negative cultures required to confirm CPE clearance. We also examined CPE transmission among hospitalized patients.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(11):1361–1362

We have grown GaAs epilayers by ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition(UHVCVD) using adsorbed hydrides and metalorganic compounds via a surface decomposition process. This result indicates that unprecracked arsine(AsH3) can be used in chemical beam epitaxy(CBE) and that a new hydride source with a low decomposition temperature, monoethylarsine(MEAs) can replace the precracked AsH3 source in CBE. The impurity concentrations in GaAs grown with trimethylgallium(TMG) and triethylgallium(TEG) were found to be very sensitve to growth temperature. It was also found that the uptake of carbon impurity is significantly reduced when TMG is replaced with TEG. The carbon concentrations in epilayers grown using TMG and TEG with unprecracked AsH3 and MEAs were reduced by 2-3 orders of magnitude compared to those by CBE process employing TMG and arsenics from precracked hydrides. We have also found that the hydrogen atoms play an important role in the reduction of carbon content in GaAs epilayer. Intermediates like dihydrides from MEAs decomposed on the surface are considered to supply hydrogen atoms and hydrides during growth, which may remove other carbon containing species.

We present results of a study on the effect of unprecracked arsine(AsH3) and trimethylgallium(TMGa) on carbon incorporation in UHVCVD(Ultra High Vacuum Chemical Vapor Deposition) grown GaAs epilayers on GaAs(100). Three distinct temperature-dependent regions of growth rates were identified as growth temperature was increased from 570 to 690°C. The growth rates were also strongly dependent on V/III ratio in a range of 5 to 30, which clearly indicates that the growth rate is determined by the amount of arsenic adsorbed on the surface at low V/III ratio and adsorption of TMGa or decomposition process at high V/III ratio. Hall concentration measurements and low temperature photoluminescence data show that the films are all p-type and their impurity concentrations are reduced by two orders of magnitude compared to those of epilayers grown by CBE(Chemical Beam Epitaxy) which employs TMGa and arsenic(precracked arsines) as source materials. Our results indicate that the hydrogen atoms dissociated from adsorbed arsine may remove hydrocarbon species resulting in a significant drop in hole concentration.

We present preliminary results aimed at investigating the effects of unprecracked arsine and trimethylgallium on the CBE (chemical beam epitaxy) growth of GaAs epilayers. We find that the growth rate rises linearly as the V/III ratio is increased when TMGa and arsine are used. All of the runs produced p-type material mainly due to carbon incorporation with the hole concentration typically of 1017 cm−3. The impurity content of the layers was found to depend distinctly on the pressure of TMGa. The significant drop in hole concentration is due in part to the hydrogen atoms generated from decomposed AsH3 which then aids in the removal of CH3 radicals on the surface. As a result of using unprecracked arsine for growth of the GaAs epilayers, we measure substantial improvements in their electrical and optical properties.