title: Infection control in small hospitals. Prevalence surveys in 18 institutions.
abstract: In prevalance surveys of 18 small hospitals in the intermountain region, 20.4% of the patients had community-acquired infections and 7.2% had infections acquired in the hospital. The types of nosocomial infections and patterns of antibiotic usage were similar to those encountered in large hospitals. In the small hospitals, 49% of the suspected bacterial infection were cultured, whereas at a nearby large hospital 77% were cultured. Seventeen of these small hospitals had an infection-control committee but these committees were unable to assess adequately the extent of their nosocomial infection problems. Monitoring of the environment with bacterial cultures was a frequent practice; overall, a ratio of one environmental culture was performed to each three diagnostic cultures. These results indicate the need to develop and evaluate nosocomial infection control programs in small hospitals.
mesh_terms: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006276:Health Facility Size; D006801:Humans; D012041:Regional Medical Programs; D014589:Utah
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents