Surveillance of bacteriological examinations at hospitalization in a pediatric surgical ward.
OBJECTIVE
Bacteriological examinations at hospitalization were monitored to identify carriers of pathogenic bacteria and prevent the outbreak of nosocomial and postoperative infections.


METHODS
In 557 patients, bacteriological examinations were performed within 48 hours after hospitalization. All people were instructed to wash their hands before and after treating carriers of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus epidermidis (MRSE), and/or Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA). The disposal of stool and urine of carriers was segregated instead of administration of sensitive antibiotics.


RESULTS
The 1176 samples comprised 557 throat swabs, 532 stool samples, and 87 other samples. At hospitalization, 9.2% of the patients were carriers of MRSA; 22.3% of the patients were carriers of MRSA, MRSE, PA, and/or other pathogenic bacteria. This percentage increased to 29.3% in 352 patients with a history of hospitalization, and 35.2% in 244 patients who were hospitalized within 1 year after previous hospitalization. Nosocomial and postoperative infections did not occur during the study period.


CONCLUSIONS
Many patients were detected as carriers of pathogenic bacteria at hospitalization. A history of hospitalization was found to be a risk factor for carrying pathogenic bacteria; hospitalization within 1 year after previous hospitalization was a high-risk factor.
Ohno
Koichi
K
Department of Pediatric Surgery, Osaka City General Hospital, Osaka 534-0021, Japan. k-ohno@r2.dion.ne.jp
Nakamura
Tetsuro
T
Azuma
Takashi
T
Yoshida
Tatsuyuki
T
Yamada
Hiroto
H
Hayashi
Hiroaki
H
Masahata
Kazunori
K
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques; D002353:Carrier State / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000382:microbiology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005243:Feces / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery; D006090:Gram-Negative Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006094:Gram-Positive Bacteria / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006757:Hospital Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D016106:Methicillin Resistance; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D010372:Pediatrics; D010614:Pharynx / Q000382:microbiology; D011336:Probability; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012308:Risk Management; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents