Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:
https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/106444
Title: | Infection control and antibiotic stewardship practices reported by south-eastern Mediterranean hospitals collaborating in the ARMed project |
Authors: | Borg, Michael Angelo Cookson, Barry David Gur, Deniz Ben-Redjeb, Saïda B. Rasslan, Ossama Elnassar, Ziad Benbachir, Mohamed Bagatzouni, Despo Pieridou Rahal, Kheira Daoud, Ziad D. |
Authors: | ARMed Project collaborators |
Keywords: | Nosocomial infections -- Prevention -- Standards -- Mediterranean Region Antibiotics -- Therapeutic use -- Mediterranean Region Drug resistance in microorganisms -- Mediterranean Region Hospital buildings -- Sanitation -- Standards -- Mediterranean Region |
Issue Date: | 2008 |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Citation: | Borg, M. A., Cookson, B. D., Gür, D., Redjeb, S. B., Rasslan, O., Elnassar, Z.,...Daoud, Z. (2008). Infection control and antibiotic stewardship practices reported by south-eastern Mediterranean hospitals collaborating in the ARMed project. Journal of Hospital Infection, 70(3), 228-234. |
Abstract: | The prevalence of multiply resistant organisms (MROs) reported from south-eastern Mediterranean hospitals highlights the need to identify possible contributory factors to help design control interventions. This was investigated through a structured questionnaire, which examined infection control and antibiotic stewardship practices in hospitals participating or collaborating with the Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance & Control in the Mediterranean Region (ARMed) project. A total of 45 hospitals (78.9% of invited institutions) responded to the questionnaire; 60% indicated that they faced periods of overcrowding when available bed complement was insufficient to cope with hospital admissions and 62% reported difficulties in isolating patients with MROs due to lack of available beds. Most hospitals relied mainly on washing to achieve hand hygiene, whether by non-medicated or disinfectant soaps. Dependence on solid bars of soap (28.9%) and cloth towels (37.8%) were among the problems identified as well as inconvenient distances of sinks from patient beds (66.6%). Alcohol hand rub was the predominant hand hygiene product in only 7% of hospitals. Programmes for better antibiotic use were mostly limited in scope; 33.3% reported having antibiotic prescribing guidelines and 53.3% of hospitals fed back resistance rates to prescribers. Auditing of antibiotic consumption, whether institution- or unit-based, was carried out in 37.8% of responding hospitals. Multi-faceted approaches aimed at improving isolation of patients with MROs, increasing the emphasis on hand hygiene by encouraging greater use of alcohol hand rubs and introducing effective antibiotic stewardship programmes should be encouraged in south-eastern Mediterranean hospitals. |
URI: | https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/106444 |
Appears in Collections: | Scholarly Works - FacM&SPat |
Files in This Item:
File | Description | Size | Format | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Infection control and antibiotic stewardship practices reported by south eastern Mediterranean hospitals collaborating in the ARMed project 2008.pdf Restricted Access | 141.87 kB | Adobe PDF | View/Open Request a copy |
Items in OAR@UM are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.