RESUMEN
Background: In accordance with the German Infection Protection Act, the treatment and handling of laundry was checked by the Public Health Department in 2016 in all Frankfurt nursing homes with special focus on the staff's clothing. Methods: On-site visits and surveys were conducted in all 44 nursing homes in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, and random microbiological examinations of 58 reprocessed and 58 already worn protective gowns were performed to determine the numbers of the colony forming units (cfu) and microbiological differentiation of the pathogen species. Results: 41 (93%) of the 44 homes tested had contracted a certified laundry service. 23 (52%) of the homes also ran a laundry of their own; in 21 of these, laundry was reprocessed and disinfected in an industrial washing machine. Regular technical or microbiological tests were carried out in 16 or 12 of the home-owned laundries, respectively. Only 31 homes (70%) provided uniforms for their employees. The staff's clothing was processed in 25 homes by the external laundry, in 9 homes by the internal laundry, and in 12 homes, the nursing staff had to do this privately at their own home. Used coats exhibited significantly higher contamination than freshly prepared ones (median: 80 vs. 2 cfu/25 cm2; P 95 percentile: 256 cfu vs. 81 cfu/25 cm2). Clothing prepared in private homes showed significantly higher contamination rates than those washed in the certified external laundry or in the nursing homes themselves (Median: 16 cfu/25 cm2 vs. 0.5-1 cfu/25 cm2). Conclusion: Considering various publications on pathogen transfers and outbreaks due to contaminated laundry in medical facilities, the treatment of laundry, in particular the uniforms, must be given more attention, also in nursing homes for the elderly. The private reprocessing of occupational clothing by the employees at home must be rejected on hygienic principles, and is furthermore prohibited by law in Germany.
RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: Urinary tract infections range among the most frequent infections not only in hospital patients but also in residents of long-term care facilities for the elderly. Urinary catheters are the greatest risk factor for urinary tract infections. In the guidance paper on the "prevention of infections in nursing homes" (2005) as well as in the updated recommendations for the "prevention and control of catheter-associated urinary tract infections" (2015), the Commission for Hospital Hygiene and Infection Prevention (KRINKO) has recommended adequate preventive measures. In 2015, the implementation of these KRINKO recommendations was investigated. METHOD: All of Frankfurt's 40 nursing homes were evaluated using a checklist based on the KRINKO recommendations. The evaluation included assessing the availability of operating instructions, appropriate indications for the placement of catheters etc. Age, sex and duration of catheterization, as well as current and previous infections within the past 6 months were documented for every resident with a catheter. RESULTS: In 35 (87.5%) of the nursing homes, operating instructions for the handling of urinary tract catheters were available. The decision as to whether a catheter is indicated is made by physicians, while its placement is often delegated to the nursing service. Typically, silicon catheters are used. In three-quarters of the nursing homes, regular intervals of 4-6 weeks for changing catheters were reported. On the respective survey day, 7.3% of the residents were catheterized. On the survey day, 3.6% (4.2%) and in the previous 6 months a total of 28% (28.9%) of the residents had a urinary tract infection (prevalence of antibiotic therapy in parentheses). Ciprofloxacin was used most often followed by cefuroxime and cotrimoxazole. DISCUSSION: In the current evaluation, fewer nursing home residents were catheterized than in previous years and the rate of urinary tract infections was low. This indicates an increasingly cautious and apparently appropriate usage of urinary tract catheters. Also, the prevalence of antibiotic therapy was low for residents with urinary tract catheters (4.2%). However, broad spectrum antibiotics are still preferentially administered (particularly quinolones), which may favor the high rate of colonization with ESBL-producing bacteria and 3MRGN. Given this background, a coordinated approach including resistance-based antibiotic stewardship appears increasingly important in nursing homes and other health care facilities.