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Nosocomial Infections in a Children's Hospital in Argentina: Impact of a Unique Infection Control Intervention Program

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Angela de Gentile ,
Noemi Rivas ,
Ronda L. Sinkowitz-Cochran ,
Teresa Momesso ,
Emilio Martinez Iriart ,
Eduardo Lopez ,
Consuelo M. Beck-Sague  and
William R. Jarvis
Angela de Gentile
Affiliation:
Infection Control Committee, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Ninos Ricardo Gutierrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Noemi Rivas
Affiliation:
Infection Control Committee, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Ninos Ricardo Gutierrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Ronda L. Sinkowitz-Cochran*
Affiliation:
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (formerly the Hospital Infections Program), National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Teresa Momesso
Affiliation:
Infection Control Committee, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Ninos Ricardo Gutierrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Emilio Martinez Iriart
Affiliation:
Infection Control Committee, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Ninos Ricardo Gutierrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Eduardo Lopez
Affiliation:
Infection Control Committee, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Ninos Ricardo Gutierrez, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Consuelo M. Beck-Sague
Affiliation:
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (formerly the Hospital Infections Program), National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
William R. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion (formerly the Hospital Infections Program), National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
*
Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Rd, Mailstop E-69, Atlanta, GA30333
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Abstract

Objective:

To assess the efficacy of parental education and use of parents as nursing assistants on reducing nosocomial infections.

Design:

Prospective study.

Methods:

Active surveillance for nosocomial infections was performed on two wards. On ward A, parents were educated about infection control practices and assisted nursing staff with routine tasks, so that nursing personnel could focus their efforts on procedures with higher risk of infection. Parental assistance was not sought on ward B, the comparison ward.

Results:

From October 1990 through September 1991, 1,081 patients were admitted to wards A (470) or B (611). The overall nosocomial infection rate was 7.1 per 100 admissions; the nosocomial infection rate was significantly higher on ward B than ward A (63/611 vs 14/470; P<.001). Multivariate analysis identified risk factors for nosocomial infection on the two wards as age <2 years (P=.01), malnutrition (P=.005), duration of hospitalization (P<.001), ward B hospitalization (P=.003), and ward cleanliness score (P=.009); the distribution of patients with these factors was similar on the two wards.

Conclusions:

Our data suggest that parental infection control education and recruitment to relieve nursing staff of routine low-risk procedures are economical and easily implemented measures to reduce nosocomial infections in hospitals with limited personnel resources in the developing world.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 22 , Issue 12 , December 2001 , pp. 762 - 766
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 2001

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