Biomedical subjects
B Marston
Publications and source records attributed to B Marston.
The prevalence of colonization with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus at a Veterans' Affairs institution.
OBJECTIVE: To study vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE) prevalence, risk factors, and clustering among hospital inpatients. DESIGN: Rectal-swab prevalence culture survey conducted from February 5 to March 22, 1996. SETTING: The Veterans' Affairs Medical Center, Atlanta, Georgia. PATIENTS: Hospital (medical and surgical) inpatients. RESULTS: The overall VRE prevalence was 29% (42/147 patients). The VRE prevalence was 52% (38/73 patients) among patients who had received at least one of six specific antimicrobials during the preceding 120 days, compared with only 5% (4/74) among those who had not received the antimicrobials (relative risk, 9.6; P<.001). The longer the period (up to 120 days) during which antimicrobial use was studied, the more closely VRE status was predicted. Among 67 hospital patients in 28 multibed rooms, clustering of VRE among current roommates was not found. CONCLUSIONS: At this hospital with relatively high VRE prevalence, VRE colonization was related to antibiotic use but not to roommate VRE status. In hospitals with a similar VRE epidemiology, obtaining cultures from roommates of VRE-positive patients may not be as efficient a strategy for identifying VRE-colonized patients as obtaining screening cultures from patients who have received antimicrobials.
Resistance to a residential AIDS home: an empirical test of NIMBY.
OBJECTIVE: This study is designed to evaluate the NIMBY (not-in-my-back-yard) syndrome regarding a proposed residential home for HIV-positive individuals. Hypotheses attempted to explain support of the home and fear of loss in real estate values. These variables were analyzed in terms of value of homes, distance to site, fear of AIDS and homophobia. METHOD: A survey of New Hope, Pennsylvania employed a 10% probability cluster sample. This resulted in 106 responses and a response rate of 70.7%. Correlational and multiple regression analyses were used to test hypotheses. FINDINGS: Support of the home and fear of loss in real estate values were not found to be related to distance from one's home to the site or to value of one's home. Bath were related to fear of AIDS and homophobia. CONCLUSIONS: NIMBY opposition in the case of an AIDS residence was found to be primarily related to fear of AIDS and homophobia. This situation, an AIDS residence, appears to be different from other instances of NIMBY.