Bathing critically ill hospital patients with the same antibacterial agent used by surgeons to "scrub in" prior to performing an operation can reduce the number of patients infected with potentially deadly bloodstream infections by as much as 73 percent, according to a new study by patient safety experts at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and five other institutions.
Bloodstream infections impact about one in five patients in hospital intensive care units increasing their chance of dying by as much 25 percent. In cases were they are not fatal, these infections can significantly increase the average length of hospital stays by seven days and add as much as $40,000 in costs.
The study tracked daily neck-to-toe sponge baths with a mild, 4 percent solution of chlorhexidine glutonate, given to 2,650 ICU patients at six different U.S. hospitals. Chlorhexidine glutonate is the same antibacterial agent used by surgeons while scrubbing in for an operation and by dentists as a potent mouthwash to guard against gum disease.
Weekly swab testing showed that 32 percent fewer patients had signs of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and 50 percent fewer cases of vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), when compared to a similar number of ICU patients (2,670) at the same hospitals who were washed with just plain soap and water. MRSA and VRE are the two most common superbugs affecting hospital patients.
"Doing everything possible to ward of bloodstream infections and halt the spread of these dangerous bacteria is essential to safeguarding our patients' well-being, encouraging their speedy recovery and sparing valuable hospital resources," says study co-investigator Trish Perl, M.D., director of
hospital epidemiology and infection control at Johns Hopkins.
Writer: Walaika Haskins
Source: Trish Perl, Johns Hopkins Hospital