Antimicrobial Scrubs May Counter MRSA

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Antimicrobial Scrubs May Counter MRSA
January 24, 2012 — Compared with normal scrubs, antimicrobial-impregnated scrubs had a reduced methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) burden in an intensive care unit in an academic hospital setting. The findings were described in a study published online January 6 in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.
Healthcare-associated infections, in general, cause serious morbidity and mortality, and the spread of MRSA is of particular concern. Therefore, a variety of solutions to mitigate this spread have been proposed, including active detection and isolation of patients infected with MRSA when they are admitted to the hospital.
Physician scrubs, the authors report, can become contaminated by bacteria within hours of laundering and may be an important transmission vector for hospital-acquired infections.
Vestex manufactures scrubs impregnated with an organosilane-based quaternary ammonium antimicrobial agent and a fluoroacrylate copolymer emulsion, which confers protection from blood and bodily fluids.
To determine the effect of these scrubs on hand and apparel bacterial burden, Gonzalo Bearman, MD, MPH, from Epidemiology and Infection Control, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and colleagues designed a prospective crossover trial of 30 healthcare workers who were randomly assigned to wear either the Vestex scrubs or control scrubs.
The researchers sampled participants weekly in the scrub abdominal area, cargo pocket, and hands. They calculated mean log colony-forming unit (CFU) counts for MRSA, vancomycin-resistant enterococci bacteria, and gram-negative rod bacteria.
A trained observer assessed compliance with hand hygiene practices, and observers also measured compliance with wearing study-assigned scrubs.
Hand hygiene compliance was 78% (910/1173 observations), and compliance was 82% (223/273) for scrubs.
The researchers found no differences in bacterial hand burden between the 2 groups, nor did they see a difference in unique positive scrub cultures. They also saw no difference in vancomycin-resistant enterococci bacteria or gram-negative rod bacteria burden.
They did, however, observe a difference in mean log MRSA CFU count for leg cargo pocket (mean log CFUs, 11.84 control vs 6.71 study; P = .0002), abdominal area (mean log CFUs, 11.35 control vs 7.54 study; P = .0056), leg cargo pocket at the beginning of shift (mean log CFUs, 11.96 control vs 4.87 study; P = .0028), and abdominal area pocket at the end of shift (mean log CFUs, 12.14 control vs 8.22 study; P = .0054).
The researchers write that a prospective trial is necessary to determine the effect of antimicrobial-impregnated apparel on MRSA infection rates. The study was limited by its duration and restriction to a single clinical unit, making the findings difficult to generalize. Previous efforts at the hospital to reduce device-associated infections may have interfered with the ability to measure bacterial colonization on
participants' hands and apparel.
"It's a very interesting study, but there are a number of holes in it," Joel Schlessinger, MD, a dermatologist at the Advanced Skin Research Center in Omaha, Nebraska, told Medscape Medical News.
Participants in the study knew that they were being observed, and they were likely to modify their behavior as a result. The study "doesn't provide a real-world analysis of the problem," said Dr. Schlessinger.
Even under those ideal conditions, the study found high rates of
contamination with MRSA: 29% of those wearing the antimicrobial-impregnated scrubs had MRSA contamination in the leg cargo pocket at the end of their shift, and 29% also had MRSA contamination in the abdomen area by shift's end.
Dr. Schlessinger described that result as "stunning," and maintained that the best solution for MRSA contamination is to isolate contaminated healthcare workers and isolate them from patients. "It will be painful, but
it's the only (strategy) that should be entertained."
The study was supported by Vestex, which manufactures antimicrobial-impregnated scrubs. One coauthor has disclosed that she worked as a full-time study coordinator from 2008 to 2010, and that after completing her employment at Virginia Commonwealth University, she worked as a consultant to Vestagen Technical Textiles on an ad hoc basis. The other study coauthors and Dr. Schlessinger have disclosed no
relevant financial relationships.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. Published online January 6, 2012. First page

轻舞飞扬的老马

看不懂，有中文的吗？

西安猫

抗菌涂层或抗菌成分的器械，耗材的研究好象很热门啊。