title: [MRSA infection control in the wards for progressive muscular dystrophy: the effects of encouraged handwashing].
abstract: There are currently 27 national hospitals with the wards for progressive muscular dystrophy (PMD) in Japan. Today, most patients in these wards are severely motor handicapped and complicated with respiratory and/or cardiac failure. Malnutrition, dysphagia, insufficient respiratory tract clearance are common problems that cause fragility to infection. Although progress in the treatment of infection have remarkably prolonged their life-span, frequent use of antibiotics is a major factor for occurrence of drug resistant bacteria. Since we had the first case of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection in 1994 in our hospital, the number of MRSA carriers increased year by year. To prevent the spread of MRSA, we revised our infection precaution manual and surveyed its consequence. We encouraged handwashing of staffs, introduced green tea in cleansing genital region and abolished the use of a private room except a patient with severe seborrheic eczema. The revision of the manual resulted in decrease of MRSA carriers. The surveillance revealed that many patients had MRSA in genital regions, although there were no relationships between colonization of MRSA and severlity of disability or complications. It was strongly suggested that toilettary care by the hands of nursing staffs was a major factor of transferring MRSA. Our study revealed that encouragement of handwashing is more powerful in preventing the spreading MRSA, and more favorable for quality of lives of PMD patients than isolating the patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Toneyama National Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nozaki
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Miyai
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006235:Hand Disinfection; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D007223:Infant; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D009136:Muscular Dystrophies; D010362:Patients' Rooms; D011788:Quality of Life; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013662:Tea
chemical_list: D013662:Tea