Known concentrations of Staphylococcus aureus and Candida auris were applied on gloves and gowns then sampled with E-swabs and BBL liquid Amies swabs. The mean numbers of colony-forming units per milliliter (CFU/mL) obtained from culture of the 2 swab types were not different, suggesting that either can be used for recovery of these two pathogens from personal protective equipment.

From April 1, 2016, through March 31, 2022, growth of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia from clinical specimens at our academic medical center was significantly more likely during July–September than during other calendar quarters.

Two independent temporal-spatial clusters of hospital-onset Rhizopus infections were evaluated using whole-genome sequencing (WGS). Phylogenetic analysis confirmed that isolates within each cluster were unrelated despite epidemiological suspicion of outbreaks. The ITS1 region alone was insufficient for accurate analysis. WGS has utility for rapid rule-out of suspected nosocomial Rhizopus outbreaks.

Among EvergreenHealth Home Care Service professionals, no coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were reported when they were instructed to use standard, contact, and droplet precautions with eye protection while providing home health care to patients diagnosed with laboratory-confirmed severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). These precautions might provide some level of protection against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among home healthcare personnel.

In this quasi-experimental study, implementing a procalcitonin and Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS) successfully reduced inappropriate antibiotic use among severely-to-critically ill COVID-19 patients, multidrug-resistant organisms, and invasive fungal infections during the intervention period in 2 medical centers. However, this strategy did not improve inappropriate antibiotic use among mildly-to-moderately ill COVID-19 patients.

A novel 1-step anionic surfactant disinfectant was effective against Candida auris isolates from the 4 major phylogenetic clades as well as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and the enveloped virus bacteriophage Phi6. This anionic surfactant disinfectant may be a useful addition to the disinfectant products available for use against C. auris.

We report a large, hospital-wide outbreak of pseudobacteremia by Paenibacillus spp. In total, 139 patients presented at least 1 positive blood culture during a 13-month period. Microbiological experiments indicated that contaminated nonsterile gloves were associated with the pseudobacteremia episodes. The outbreak was resolved by discontinuing the use of the involved brand.

We evaluated povidone-iodine (PVI) decolonization among 51 fracture-fixation surgery patients. PVI was applied twice on the day of surgery. Patients were tested for S. aureus nasal colonization and surveyed. Mean S. aureus concentrations decreased from 3.13 to 1.15 CFU/mL (P = .03). Also, 86% of patients stated that they felt neutral or positive about their PVI experience.

The CLEAR Trial recently found that decolonization reduced infections and hospitalizations in MRSA carriers in the year following hospital discharge. In this secondary analysis, we explored whether decolonization had a similar benefit in the subgroup of trial participants who harbored USA300, using two different definitions for the USA300 strain-type.

We compared the effectiveness of 4 sampling methods to recover Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Clostridioides difficile from contaminated environmental surfaces: cotton swabs, RODAC culture plates, sponge sticks with manual agitation, and sponge sticks with a stomacher. Organism type was the most important factor in bacterial recovery.

A retrospective cohort of children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with cerebral palsy was matched 1:3 by age and admission year to determine odds of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) nasal colonization. Adjusted odds of MRSA nasal colonization at PICU admission were 2.6-fold higher among children with cerebral palsy.

For 147 hospital-onset bloodstream infections, we assessed the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of the National Healthcare Safety Network surveillance definitions of central-line–associated bloodstream infections against the gold standard of physician review, examining the drivers of discrepancies and related implications for reporting and infection prevention.

In a tertiary-care, pediatric healthcare center in Québec, Canada, healthcare workers who reported a household exposure to confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases were allowed to work. On repeated testing, 15% became severe acute respiratory coronavirus virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)–positive by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), with no nosocomial transmission. Being asymptomatic and receiving a booster dose >7 days prior to exposure was protective against becoming SARS-CoV-2–positive by PCR.

For 40 patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization, fist bump and elbow bump greetings resulted in frequent transfer of MRSA (25% vs 15%, respectively), but significantly fewer colonies were transferred via the elbow bump. Noncontact greetings should be encouraged to reduce the risk of transfer of healthcare-associated pathogens.

We analyzed the effectiveness of manual cleaning protocols performed on high-speed dental handpieces, using protein identification by fluorescence. Although one protocol was able to able to lower the amount of protein, >40% of the handpieces showed amounts of residual protein at unacceptable levels.

We evaluated the distributions of dental splatters and the corresponding control measure effects with high-speed videography and laser diffraction. Most of the dental splatters were small droplets (<50 μm). High-volume evacuation combined with a suction air purifier could clear away most of the droplets and aerosols.