San Diego, CA (October 17, 2012) – A sweeping study on the issue
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in hospitals shows that using
antimicrobial soap and ointment on all intensive-care patients
significantly decreases bloodstream infection. The results,
which are being presented for the first time at IDWeek 2012TM,
may suggest a major change in health care practice that could
help save lives. The study involved nearly 75,000 patients in 43
mostly community hospitals in 16 states and involved each
hospital's own quality improvement team. Working with these
teams enabled important questions to be answered during routine
medical care. As such, the study's findings about "universal
decolonization" for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(MRSA) may have widespread applicability to hospitals across the
country. Of the strategies tested, the one that proved to be
most effective, was arguably the simplest and most
straightforward: Rather than screening intensive care unit (ICU)
patients for the bacteria and then