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- Title
Infection control in small hospitals. Prevalence surveys in 18 institutions.
- Authors
Britt MR; Burke JP; Nordquist AG; Britt, M R; Burke, J P; Nordquist, A G; Wilfert, J N; Smith, C B
- Abstract
In prevalance surveys of 18 small hospitals in the intermountain region, 20.4% of the patients had community-acquired infections and 7.2% had infections acquired in the hospital. The types of nosocomial infections and patterns of antibiotic usage were similar to those encountered in large hospitals. In the small hospitals, 49% of the suspected bacterial infection were cultured, whereas at a nearby large hospital 77% were cultured. Seventeen of these small hospitals had an infection-control committee but these committees were unable to assess adequately the extent of their nosocomial infection problems. Monitoring of the environment with bacterial cultures was a frequent practice; overall, a ratio of one environmental culture was performed to each three diagnostic cultures. These results indicate the need to develop and evaluate nosocomial infection control programs in small hospitals.
- Publication
JAMA: Journal of the American Medical Association, 1976, Vol 236, p1700
- ISSN
0098-7484
- Publication type
journal article