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Biomedical subjects

F Daschner

Publications and source records attributed to F Daschner.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1993

Pseudomonas aeruginosa in a neonatal intensive care unit: reservoirs and ecology of the nosocomial pathogen.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the leading nosocomial pathogens. In hospitals, organisms are commonly recovered from moist environments. To determine the reservoir and population dynamics of particular strains, highly discriminative typing methods are required. Hybridization of enzymatically restricted P. aeruginosa DNA with two gene probes led to the identification of infecting and colonizing strains prevalent over a 5-month period in a neonatal intensive care unit. Four genotypically distinct strains were repetitively isolated from tap water from several faucets on the ward. P. aeruginosa isolates recovered from tap water on adjacent wards supplied by the same water system had different genotypes, while samples taken from the mains were negative for the organism. Serotyping of O antigens showed variable reproducibility and could not elucidate the strain-specific reservoirs. It is concluded that organisms are transmitted horizontally between faucets and prevail in reservoirs for prolonged periods.

Blotting, Southern↗
PubMed1993

[The bactericidal effect of oxybuprocaine. A possible cause of false negative results in bronchoalveolar lavage].

New approaches in the diagnosis of pneumonia, especially in intensive care units, are quantitative cultures of bronchoalveolar (BAL) fluid or the protected specimen brush. The sensitivity of these methods, however, has often been found to be as low as 50-60%. One possible explanation for the low sensitivity of these diagnostic tools is the antimicrobial activity of local anaesthetics used in bronchoscopy. Therefore, we investigated the bactericidal properties of oxybuprocaine, a topical anaesthetic used for bronchoscopy in our clinic, in order to test the reliability of specimens obtained from BAL. METHODS. The bactericidal activity of oxybuprocaine in concentrations of 1%, 0.1%, 0.05% and 0.01% was tested by constructing time-kill curves for Streptococcus pneumoniae, Hemophilus influenzae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. Five stains of each bacterial species were tested. The inoculum size was 10(4) ml, and bacteria were counted after 10, 20, 30, 60 and 120 min. RESULTS. The resulting time-kill curves are demonstrated in Figs. 1-4. The most sensitive bacteria were S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae, in which significant bactericidal activity could be shown even with a 0.01% solution of oxybuprocaine. E. coli and P. aeruginosa were also inhibited, but only at the highest concentration of 1%. CONCLUSIONS. The use of local anaesthetics before material is taken for culture, e.g. from BAL, may give rise to false-negative results and should therefore be avoided or reduced. For each local anaesthetic used in bronchoscopy, the concentrations that can be used without the risk of false-negative results should be determined.

Anesthetics, Local↗
PubMed1993

[Microbiological and economic studies of abbreviated procedures for surgical hand disinfection].

An investigation was performed of whether shortened procedures for surgical hand disinfection (2 and 3 min, respectively) are equally effective as the usual German standard procedure of 5 min duration and, in addition, which saving of working time and costs would be achievable if shorter procedures were employed. The shortened procedures were: 1) 3 min alcoholic disinfectant (1 min prior handwashing) and 2) 1 min chlorhexidine detergent (Hibiscrub), 2 min 0.5% chlorhexidine in 70% isopropanol (Hibisol). The two shortened procedures were equally effective as the standard procedure (test of equivalence, p < 0.05). The savings of working time and costs calculated for 17708 operations were 1) 2360 h or 79768 German marks and 2) 3540 h or 119652 German marks, respectively.

Bacteria↗
PubMed1992

In vitro susceptibility of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and slime-producing and non-slime-producing coagulase-negative staphylococci to fusidic acid.

The in vitro susceptibility of 100 oxacillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and 100 oxacillin-resistant coagulase-negative staphylococci (CNS; 50 slime-negative and 50 slime-positive strains) was determined by agar dilution technique, with and without the addition of 50% human serum. All strains tested were highly sensitive to fusidic acid. S. aureus and CNS showed MIC50 values of 0.125 and 0.25 mg/l, respectively. MICs of all strains increased significantly in the presence of 50% human serum. Only minor differences were noted between the MICs of slime-producing and slime-deficient CNS.

Coagulase↗
PubMed1991

[Hygienic and economic significance of sewer drainage in hospitals. Architectural changes in the guidelines of the Federal Health Office].

The hygienic importance of barrier zoning in hospitals has been evaluated on the basis of the relevant international literature between 1970 and 1989. There have been only a very few pertinent publications and in none has there been any pointer which would support the hypothesis of barriers having an infection-preventing effect. Using four University Hospitals in Baden-Würtemberg as paradigms, a model was prepared for calculating what space and cost savings were possible, if a simpler system could be installed, instead of the one demanded under federal regulations and already planned for the four hospitals. It was found that it would save a realizable area of 319,5 m2 at a potential cost saving of DM 1,138,335. By dispensing with hygienically not justifiable building work at the planning stage of new hospitals considerable greater costs could be avoided.

Cross Infection↗
PubMed1991

[Prolongation of hospital stay by nosocomial pneumonia and wound infection].

From June 1988 to September 1989, a prospective survey comprising a total of 1183 patients in a university hospital was carried out to ascertain the additional length of stay in intensive care units because of nosocomial pneumonia associated with artificial ventilation (418 patients, 296 men, 122 women, mean age 48.8 +/- 21 years, ventilated for more than 24 h) or by postoperative wound infections (765 patients, 501 men, 264 women, mean age 60 +/- 11 years, after operations on the large bowel, heart or biliary tract). Each patient with a nosocomial infection was matched against a variable number of control patients (for cases of pneumonia a maximum of 6, for wound infections a maximum of 10) without nosocomial infection. Pneumonia developed in 100 (23.9%) of artificially ventilated patients, and 46 of these patients together with 101 controls were entered into the matching procedure. 24 patients with pneumonia had to be excluded from analysis because no controls could be found for them, and also 30 patients who died while in the intensive care unit. 49 (6.4%) of the surgical patients contracted postoperative wound infections. 43 of them, together with 210 controls, were entered into the matching procedure. Among patients with pneumonia the average additional duration of stay was 11.5 days, and among patients with post-operative wound infections it was 13.9 days. The results confirm that nosocomial infections contribute substantially to prolongation of hospital stay and hence to the costs.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Unnecessary and ecological cost of hospital infection.

Hospital infection control can be accomplished with less pollution to the environment, nevertheless retaining the same standard of hygiene. Waste reduction also means cost reduction. Some examples of avoidable ecological costs are unnecessary nursing techniques, unnecessary gowning and disinfection procedures, unnecessary packing material and disposables.

Communicable Disease Control↗
PubMed1991

[The effect of Federal Public Health Service guidelines on air, surface and floor germ count in a general surgery and an orthopedic operating room].

In a prospective study the environmental contamination in an old and a new operating theatre was investigated. The old operating rooms were constructed in 1936 whereas the new rooms were built in 1986. The study was conducted in surgical and orthopedic surgical operating rooms. There was a slight increase in floor as well as in surface contamination in the new operating rooms. On the other hand there was a slight decrease in the airborne microorganisms in the orthopedic surgery and nearly identical colony counts in the general surgery operating rooms. All the differences were statistically not significant. The spectrum of microorganisms and the occurrence of Staphylococcus aureus in the old and the new operating rooms showed no difference.

Air Microbiology↗