Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-vdxz6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:04:10.094Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Central Venous Catheters as a Source of Hemodialysis-Related Bacteremia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Geoffrey D. Taylor*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Margaret McKenzie
Affiliation:
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Maureen Buchanan-Chell
Affiliation:
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Louise Caballo
Affiliation:
University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Linda Chui
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Kinga Kowalewska-Grochowska
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
*
2E4.11 WMC, University of Alberta Hospital, 8440-112 St, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2B7, Canada

Abstract

Objective:

To describe investigations into an increase in hemodialysis-related bacteremia that occurred in our hospital in the first 6 months of 1996.

Setting:

Hemodialysis unit in a tertiary-care medical center.

Methods:

Prospective surveillance for hemodialysis bacteremia has been performed for several years. Cases that occurred in 1995 were compared to cases in the first 6 months of 1996. Unit data on dialysis runs and method of dialysis access were used to calculate rates. Nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to type 18 Staphylococcus aureus isolates from 1996. A case-control study comparing 80 randomly selected hemodialysis patients from 1995 and 1996 was performed to examine infection risk factors.

Results:

The hemodialysis bacteremia rate was 1.2 per 1,000 runs in 1995 and 2.8 per 1,000 in the first 6 months of 1996 (P=.0009). The 25 cases in 1995 and 32 in the first half of 1996 were similar in age, gender, means of vascular access, and micro-bial etiology. Central venous catheter (CVC) access accounted for >90% of cases in both time periods. S aureus was the most common microbial etiology (53% of the 1996 cases). PCR typing of S aureus isolates from 1996 demonstrated five different strains, the most common having six isolates. The use of CVCs as a means of vascular access abruptly increased in the unit in January 1996, from <30% of dialysis runs in 1995 to >40% in 1996 (P<.001), associated with structural changes in healthcare delivery in the region resulting in delays in performing surgical procedures, such as creation of vascular grafts and fistulae.

Conclusion:

A marked increase in hemodialysis bacteremia occurred in 1996, associated with increased reliance on CVCs for vascular access in hemodialysis patients during a period of healthcare restructuring.

Type
Original Articles
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Churchill, DN, Taylor, DW, Cook, RJ, LaPlante, P, Paul, B, Cartier, P, et al. Canadian hemodialysis morbidity study. Am J Kidney Dis 1992;19:214234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2. Chow, JW, Sorkin, M, Goetz, A, Yu, VL. Staphylococcal infections in the hemodialysis unit: prevention using infection control principles. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1988;9:531533.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3. Johnson, WJ, Kurtz, SB, Mitchell, JC III, Van Den Berg, CJ, Wochos, DN, O'Fallon, W, et al. Results of treatment of center hemodialysis patients. Mayo Clin Proc 1984;59:669671.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4. Hoen, B, Kessler, M, Hestin, D, Mayeux, D. Risk factors for bacterial infections in chronic hemodialysis adult patients: a multicentre prospective survey. Nephrol Dial Transplant 1995;10:377381.Google ScholarPubMed
5. Cheesbrough, JS, Finch, RG, Burden, RP. A prospective study of the mechanisms of infection associated with hemodialysis catheters. J Infect Dis 1986;154:579589.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6. Capital Health Annual Report, 1995/96. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Capital Health Authority; 1996.Google Scholar
7. Garner, JS, Jarvis, WR, Emori, TG, Horan, TC, Hughes, JM. CDC definitions for nosocomial infections, 1988. Am J Infect Control 1988;16:128140.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8. Pignatari, A, Boyken, LD, Herwaldt, LA, Hollis, R, Leme, I, Sesso, R, et al. Application of restriction endonuclease analysis of chromosomal DNA in the study of Staphylococcus aureus colonization in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients. Diagn Microbiol Infect Dis 1992;15:195199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Goh, SH, Byrne, S, Zhang, JL, Chow, AW, Molecular typing of S aureus on the basis of coagulase gene polymorphisms. J Clin Microbiol 1992;30:16421645.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. Fridkin, SK, Pear, SM, Williamson, TH, Galgiani, JN, Jarvis, WR. The role of understaffing in central venous catheter-associated bloodstream infections. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1996;17:150158.Google ScholarPubMed
11. Haley, RP, Bergman, DA. The role of understaffing and over-crowding in recurrent outbreaks of staphylococcal infection in a neonatal special-care unit. J Infect Dis 1982;145:875885.CrossRefGoogle Scholar