Cross Infections

The term Cross Infection refers to the transmission of a pathogenic organism from one person to another.  Cross infection is a potential problem in all institutional settings.  Cross Infections take place in many public institutions and hospitals are one of the most intense battlegrounds where a daily “search and destroy mission” exist each day.

Reports show cross infections affect between 5-10% of patients in hospital settings each year at a cost in excess of $4.5 billion.  Infections originating from surgery in the United States resulted in a median hospitalization cost of $7,531 for each infected patient during the 1990s.  Many websites research and educate the healthcare industry about this growing battle in healthcare.  The sad reality is the constant war that confronts the facility with each patient that enters the door.

Each day the institutions battle; hand hygiene from employees and patients, surgical site infections, MRSA (methicillin-resistant or multiple antibiotic-resistant staphylococcus aureus) and a continual spreadsheet of infectious outbreaks.  How do we battle these continuous wars of infectious diseases?

We are blessed with many new technological machines which help many patients, but even as the equipment sits in stand-by mode or at rest in storage it can be a breeding ground waiting to expose germs.  Hospitals are purchasing voice recognition dictation systems to become more efficient while witnessing an advantage of less keyboard touching to reduce transfer of infectious diseases. http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/623052/description#description

A must read article is about a simple technique by Jasper Palmer on how he disposed of his surgical gown and proved statically to save lives by spreading less germs while transporting MRSA patients.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/news/fullstory_81999.html

Mr. Palmer felt he was not doing anything special when he balled up his paper gown and stuffed it into one of his gloves after surgery; he just felt this was the proper thing to do.

Many institutions today are being strained with cost containment and studies show that over worked employees cut corners to achieve there daily duties.  The true defender against Cross Infection is the protocol control in each facility and the ingenuity of its healthcare workers as in the previous paragraph.

Many healthcare workers are often convinced of products or practices transmitting germs in their facilities.  A few forward thinking doctors in England came up with their own study and supplied their own answer.  The doctors were convinced patients were being infected from previous patients via the simple tourniquet.  The doctors took used tourniquets and grew cultures which provided proof of MRSA and MSSA (methicillin sensitive staphylococcus aureus).

This led to the invention of the Tournistrip.  The new tourniquet is single use.

The battle will always exist and it appears that protocol and procedures along with ingenuity of people in the healthcare field will be our front line in defense of Cross Infections.

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