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Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology Publication Info

Article DOI: 10.1086/502079
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502079
A Prospective Study to Determine Whether Cover Gowns in Addition to Gloves Decrease Nosocomial Transmission of Vancomycin‐Resistant Enterococci in an Intensive Care Unit  • 
Arjun Srinivasan , MD, Xiaoyan Song , MD, MS, Tracy Ross , BSc, William Merz , PhD, Roy Brower , MD and Trish M. Perl , MD, MSc
Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology , Vol. 23, No. 8 (August 2002), pp. 424-428
Article DOI: 10.1086/502079
Article Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/502079
Original Articles

A Prospective Study to Determine Whether Cover Gowns in Addition to Gloves Decrease Nosocomial Transmission of Vancomycin‐Resistant Enterococci in an Intensive Care Unit

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Abstract(back to top)

BACKGROUND. Vancomycin‐resistant enterococci (VRE) remain a significant nosocomial pathogen. Current guidelines of the Hospital Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend the use of gowns and gloves for some interactions with VRE‐infected or ‐colonized patients to prevent nosocomial transmission of VRE.

OBJECTIVE. To assess the effect of disposable cover gowns on preventing nosocomial transmission of VRE.

DESIGN AND SETTING. Prospective study in a 16‐bed medical intensive care unit of a university teaching hospital.

PATIENTS. All patients who were at risk to acquire VRE, were admitted to the intensive care unit from August 1998 to January 1999, and had at least two perirectal cultures were included in the analysis of VRE acquisition.

INTERVENTION. VRE isolation precautions were changed from gowns and gloves to gloves alone.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE. VRE acquisition rates and risk factors for VRE acquisition.

RESULTS. The VRE acquisition rate was 1.80 cases per 100 days at risk in the gown and gloves period compared with 3.78 in the gloves only period (P = .04). In a proportional hazards model adjusted for length of stay, gloves only precautions with a hazard ratio of 2.5 (P = .02; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 5.3) were the only independent risk factor for VRE acquisition.

CONCLUSION. Our data lend support to current HICPAC recommendations for the use of cover gowns to decrease nosocomial transmission of VRE.

Bibliographic Information(back to top)

  • A Prospective Study to Determine Whether Cover Gowns in Addition to Gloves Decrease Nosocomial Transmission of Vancomycin‐Resistant Enterococci in an Intensive Care Unit
  • Arjun Srinivasan , MD, Xiaoyan Song , MD, MS, Tracy Ross , BSc, William Merz , PhD, Roy Brower , MD and Trish M. Perl , MD, MSc
  • Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
  • Vol. 23, No. 8 (August 2002) (pp. 424-428)

Author Information(back to top)

Arjun Srinivasan , MD; Xiaoyan Song , MD, MS; Tracy Ross , BSc; William Merz , PhD; Roy Brower , MD; Trish M. Perl , MD, MSc

Notes and References(back to top)

This item contains 1 note(s).

Notes

The authors are from the University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia. Address reprint requests to Barry M. Farr, MD, MSc, Box 473, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, VA 22908. Presented at the Ninth Annual Meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America; April 18‐20, 1999; San Francisco, CA.

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© 2002 by The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. All rights reserved.