A major challenge in treating Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is relapse. Many new therapies are being developed to help prevent this outcome. We sought to establish risk factors for relapse and determine whether fields available in an electronic health record (EHR) could be used to identify high-risk patients for targeted relapse prevention strategies.

Retrospective cohort study.

Large clinical data warehouse at a 4-hospital healthcare organization.

Data were gathered from January 2006 through October 2010. Subjects were all inpatient episodes of a positive C. difficile test where patients were available for 56 days of follow-up.

Relapse was defined as another positive test between 15 and 56 days after the initial test. Multivariable regression was performed to identify factors independently associated with CDI relapse.

Eight hundred twenty-nine episodes met eligibility criteria, and 198 resulted in relapse (23.9%). In the final multivariable analysis, risk of relapse was associated with age (odds ratio [OR], 1.02 per year [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01–1.03]), fluoroquinolone exposure in the 90 days before diagnosis (OR, 1.58 [95% CI, 1.11–2.26]), intensive care unit stay in the 30 days before diagnosis (OR, 0.47 [95% CI, 0.30–0.75]), cephalosporin (OR, 1.80 [95% CI, 1.19–2.71]), proton pump inhibitor (PPI; OR, 1.55 [95% CI, 1.05–2.29]), and metronidazole exposure after diagnosis (OR, 2.74 [95% CI, 1.64–4.60]). A prediction model tuned to ensure a 50% probability of relapse would flag 14.6% of CDI episodes.

Data from a comprehensive EHR can be used to identify patients at high risk for CDI relapse. Major risk factors include antibiotic and PPI exposure.

To assess the feasibility and effectiveness of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) multi-dimensional hand hygiene approach in 19 limited-resource countries and to analyze predictors of poor hand hygiene compliance.

An observational, prospective, cohort, interventional, before-and-after study from April 1999 through December 2011. The study was divided into 2 periods: a 3-month baseline period and a 7-year follow-up period.

Ninety-nine intensive care unit (ICU) members of the INICC in Argentina, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, El Salvador, Greece, India, Lebanon, Lithuania, Macedonia, Mexico, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, and Turkey.

Healthcare workers at 99 ICU members of the INICC.

A multidimensional hand hygiene approach was used, including (1) administrative support, (2) supplies availability, (3) education and training, (4) reminders in the workplace, (5) process surveillance, and (6) performance feedback. Observations were made for hand hygiene compliance in each ICU, during randomly selected 30-minute periods.

A total of 149,727 opportunities for hand hygiene were observed. Overall hand hygiene compliance increased from 48.3% to 71.4% (P < .01). Univariate analysis indicated that several variables were significantly associated with poor hand hygiene compliance, including males versus females (63% vs 70%; P<.001), physicians versus nurses (62% vs 72%; P<.001), and adult versus neonatal ICUs (67% vs 81%; P<.001), among others.

Adherence to hand hygiene increased by 48% with the INICC approach. Specific programs directed to improve hand hygiene for variables found to be predictors of poor hand hygiene compliance should be implemented.

The prevention of tuberculosis (TB) transmission in healthcare settings is a major issue, particularly because of the interaction between human immunodeficiency virus and TB and the emergence of multidrug-resistant TB.

Healthcare facilities involved in TB management in 4 African countries (Benin, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, and Togo).

A questionnaire was developed by representatives of the 4 countries to evaluate the organizational measures implemented in facilities involved in TB management. On-site visits were performed between July 2010 and July 2011.

A total of 115 facilities, including 10 university hospitals and 92 basic management units, were visited. None had a TB infection control plan, and only 5.2% provided education for staff about nosocomial TB. Overall, 48.3% of the facilities performed triage of suspected TB cases on hospital arrival or admission, 89.6% provided education for TB cases on cough etiquette, 20.0% segregated smear-positive TB cases, and 15.7% segregated previously treated cases. A total of 15.5% of the facilities registered TB among staff, for a global prevalence rate of 348 cases per 100,000 staff members.

This survey identified simple and mostly costless administrative measures to be urgently implemented at the local level to prevent nosocomial TB, such as staff education, triage on admission, and segregation of previously treated patients.

Pediatric infectious diseases (ID) fellows are required to receive training in hospital epidemiology and infection control and prevention. We sought to assess the current state of healthcare epidemiology training for fellows and to determine which topics are considered important by key stakeholders.

US pediatric ID fellowship program directors and hospital epidemiologists.

We conducted an anonymous Web-based survey in February 2012. We assessed the presence and content of curricula, perceived importance of specific topics, and barriers to career development.

Of 97 eligible participants, 76 (78%) completed the survey, representing 54 programs. Respondents were program directors (60%), hospital epidemiologists (25%), or both (15%). A total of 82% of programs with didactic curricula have infection control sessions, most commonly 1–2 hours in total duration. Of 17 identified topics, only 3 were covered by more than 50% of programs: isolation precautions (54%), central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI; 53%), and hand hygiene (51%). Of the 76 respondents, 35% indicated that fellows participate in a dedicated infection control rotation. Six topics were considered very important by more than 75% of respondents: antimicrobial stewardship (94%), isolation precautions (93%), hand hygiene (90%), CLABSI (90%), surveillance for resistant bacteria (81%), and communicable disease exposure management (81%).

Pediatric ID fellowship programs dedicate little time to didactic or experiential learning in healthcare epidemiology. There are a wide array of topics that the majority of programs do not cover, including several subjects that are considered to be very important by program directors and hospital epidemiologists. Creating a standardized pediatric infection control curriculum would likely benefit fellows in training.