EDITORIAL: A New War on Germs

By The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.

Jan. 2–Piedmont Medical Center is among a vanguard of hospitals across the nation that are stepping up the war on germs. Health experts are optimistic that a few simple and cheap procedures could save thousands of lives annually.

PMC has declared war on MRSA — or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus — a deadly staph germ that has become resistant to normal treatment by antibiotics. MRSA is spread by skin-to-skin contact, and patients who are ill or who have compromised immune systems are more susceptible to infection. That helps explain why so many patients contract staph infections while hospitalized.

Piedmont’s first line of defense is “contact isolation,” in which a patient is tested for infection before he or she comes into contact with other patients. Anyone entering the patient’s room must wear disposable gowns and gloves.

If the test is positive, the patient is quickly treated. But even if the test is negative, normal precautions are taken, such as washing hands or using an antibacterial lotion when entering and leaving the patient’s room.

These measures seem elementary, but the results can be dramatic. According to a recent report in The Baltimore Sun, several Michigan hospitals have used simple procedures such as hand-washing to reduce the infection rates transmitted through venous catheters used to administer medication and nutrients to some patients.

These small tubes inserted into patients’ veins also can be the source of life-threatening infections. Over a year and a half of observing the new cleanliness standards, catheter-related bloodstream infections dropped by 66 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 90,000 Americans die every year from infections they contract while hospitalized. And many of those infections result from antibiotic resistant germs.

Rather than simply rely on new and stronger antibiotics to target the organisms, hospitals now are seeking ways to prevent the spread of the germs without relying on drugs. That preventive approach makes sense not only because of its capacity to save lives but also because of the cost of antibiotic treatment. For example, the average cost for treating a patient with a catheter-related infection is $45,000.

While the measures taken to prevent infection may be simple, implementing the new protocol at hospitals often is not. It requires rigorous attention to guidelines and adherence at all levels to the new measures. In short, a significant change in routine is rarely easy.

But this is likely to be one new frontier in medical treatment. While researchers seek ever more exotic treatments for a variety of ailments, hospitals may save thousands of lives with measures as simple as ensuring that everyone washes their hands.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Herald, Rock Hill, S.C.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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