Editor's Note Pierced earring holes can be a source of healthcare associated infections (HAIs) via cross-transmission of bacteria from the holes to nurses’ fingers, this study finds. For this analysis, earlobes and fingers of 200 nurses (128 with pierced ears and 72 unpierced) working at a university hospital in Japan…

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Editor's Note Antimicrobial treatment of asymptomatic organisms identified in preoperative urine cultures was not associated with reductions in the risk for postoperative infections, including urinary tract infections (UTIs) and surgical site infections (SSIs), this study finds. In this analysis of 68,265 patients in 109 Veterans Affairs hospitals who had cardiac,…

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Editor's Note The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) on December 11 published a new expert guidance on “Infection prevention in the operating room anesthesia work area.” Key recommendations of the guidance to improve infection prevention include: Increased hand hygiene performed, at a minimum, before aseptic tasks, after removing…

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Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on December 10 issued a statement on an updated safety communication about rates of duodenoscope contamination obtained from preliminary postmarket data. Interim results from sampling studies from device manufacturers−Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax− indicate higher-than-expected contamination rates after reprocessing. Up to 3% of…

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Editor's Note In this 9-year prospective cohort study from Spain, researchers identified surgical site infection (SSI) risk factors that showed the necessity  to strictly comply with wound decontamination and patient preparation protocols, reduce the length of surgical time, and identify patients requiring comprehensive monitoring. This analysis of 1,969 patients who…

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Editor's Note This meta-analysis found that a surgeon will have a sharps injury in about 1 in 10 surgical procedures. Of 45 studies analyzed, the incidence rate was 13.2 sharps injuries per 100 time-units. Per 100 person-years, the rate was 88.2 for self-reported injuries, 40.0 for perforations, and 5.8 for administrative…

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AORN’s updated Guideline for Sterilization is based on a recent review of evidence in peer-reviewed journals and regulations from 2012 to 2017. In addition to guidance for sterilizing reusable medical devices to be used in perioperative and procedural settings, the updated guideline points to findings that substantiate current practices, and…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Disease Control and infection (CDC) on October 31 reported that the risk of hospital patients having healthcare-associated infections was 16% lower in 2015 than in 2011, largely because of declines in surgical site and urinary tract infections. The percentage of patients having surgical site and…

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Editor's Note In this study, researchers developed an algorithm model that accurately identified surgical site infections (SSIs) using independent variables from electronic health record data and outcomes from the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP). Researchers fit 3 models to data from patients having surgery at the…

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Editor's Note Wound photography facilitates online postoperative wound assessment for surgical site infections (SSIs) but needs refinement to make sure critical issues aren’t missed, this study finds. A total of 523 surgeons reviewed online clinical vignettes with or without wound photography to diagnose SSIs. The addition of photography did not…

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