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Abstract Objective Hand hygiene (HH) is a critical component for controlling hospital-acquired infection (HAI). The present study was designed to develop an intervention approach to improve compliance with HH among healthcare workers in a hospital setting. Methods The HH intervention study was conducted in Guizhou Provincial People's Hospital, Guiyang, China and organized by its Department of HAI Management. It was an observational, prospective, quasiexperimental (before-after intervention) study. The study was divided into two phases: the baseline phase and the intervention phase. The investigative team included clinical monitoring staff and infection control practitioners who received a series of instructions on HH compliance, monitoring skills, and measurement of the use of HH products. Results Based on 27,852 observations in a 17-month period, the rate of compliance with HH improved from 37.78% at baseline to 75.90% after intervention. Significant improvement in compliance and an increase in consumption of HH products was observed after intervention. The per patient-day consumption of alcohol-based hand rub products and handwash agents increased by 4.75 mL and 4.55 mL, respectively. The consumption of paper towels increased 3.41 sheets per patient-day. During the same period, the prevalence rate of HAI decreased 0.83%. Conclusions This study demonstrates that a significant improvement in compliance with HH can be achieved through a systemic, multidimensional intervention approach involving all categories of healthcare workers in a hospital setting, which may result in a decrease of the HAI rate.

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Abstract The mechanisms contributing to persistence of coagulase-negative staphylococci are diverse; to better understanding of their dynamics, the characterization of nosocomial isolates is needed. Our aim was to characterize phenotypic and molecular characteristics of Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus haemolyticus human blood isolates from two tertiary care hospitals in Mexico, the Hospital Universitario in Monterrey and the Hospital Civil in Guadalajara. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined. Biofilm formation was assessed by crystal violet staining. Detection of the ica operon and Staphylococcal Cassette Chromosome mec typing were performed by PCR. Clonal relatedness was determined by Pulsed-fiel gel electrophoresis and Multi locus sequence typing. Methicillin-resistance was 85.5% and 93.2% for S. epidermidis and S. haemolyticus, respectively. Both species showed resistance >70% to norfloxacin, clindamycin, levofloxacin, trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, and erythromycin. Three S. epidermidis and two S. haemolyticus isolates were linezolid-resistant (one isolate of each species was cfr+). Most isolates of both species were strong biofilm producers (92.8% of S. epidermidis and 72.9% of S. haemolyticus). The ica operon was amplified in 36 (43.4%) S. epidermidis isolates. SCCmec type IV was found in 47.2% of the S. epidermidis isolates and SCCmec type V in 14.5% of S. haemolyticus isolates. No clonal relatedness was found in either species. Resistance to clindamycin, levofloxacin, erythromycin, oxacillin, and cefoxitin was associated with biofilm production for both species (p < 0.05). A G2576T mutation in 23S rRNA gene was detected in an S. haemolyticus linezolid-resistant isolate. All linezolid-resistant S. epidermidis isolates belonged to ST23; isolate with SCCmec type IV belonged to ST7, and isolate with SCCmec type III belonged to ST2. This is the first report of ST7 in Mexico. There was a high genetic diversity in both species, though both species shared characteristics that may contibute to virulence.

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Abstract Background Successful treatment of HIV-positive children requires a high level of adherence (at least 95%) to highly active antiretroviral therapy. Adherence is influenced by factors related to the child and caregivers. Objectives To evaluate children and caregivers characteristics associated to children's adherence. Methods Cross-sectional study, from September 2013 to June 2015, comprising a sample of caregivers of perinatally HIV-infected children, in the age group of 1–12 years, under antiretroviral therapy for at least 6 months and on follow-up in two AIDS reference centers in Salvador, Bahia. Caregiver self-reports were the sole source of 4 days adherence and sociodemographic information. Study participants who reported an intake >95% of prescribed medication were considered adherents. A variable, (“Composed Adherence”), was created to better evaluate adherence. Results We included 77 children and their caregivers. 88.3% of the caregivers were female, the median age was 38.0 years (IQR 33.5–47.5), 48.1% were white or mixed, 72.7% lived in Salvador and 53.2% had no fixed income. The 4 days child's adherence was associated only to caregivers that received less than a minimum salary (p < 0.05), 70.1% of the caregivers had less than four years of formal education, 81.8% were children's relative and 53.2% of the caregivers were HIV positive. The caregiver's pharmacy refill, long-term adherence and 4 days adherence, were significantly associated with composed adherence (p < 0.05). Child's long-term adherence was strongly associated to the 4 days child's adherence referred by caregiver (p < 0.001). Conclusions Our results suggest the need of improvement in HIV-infected children adherence, through reinforcement of the caregivers own adherence.

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Abstract Ventilator-associated pneumonia is the most prevalent nosocomial infection in intensive care units and is associated with high mortality rates (14–70%). Aim This study evaluated factors influencing mortality of patients with Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), including bacterial resistance, prescription errors, and de-escalation of antibiotic therapy. Methods This retrospective study included 120 cases of Ventilator-associated pneumonia admitted to the adult adult intensive care unit of the Federal University of Uberlândia. The chi-square test was used to compare qualitative variables. Student's t-test was used for quantitative variables and multiple logistic regression analysis to identify independent predictors of mortality. Findings De-escalation of antibiotic therapy and resistant bacteria did not influence mortality. Mortality was 4 times and 3 times higher, respectively, in patients who received an inappropriate antibiotic loading dose and in patients whose antibiotic dose was not adjusted for renal function. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed the incorrect adjustment for renal function was the only independent factor associated with increased mortality. Conclusion Prescription errors influenced mortality of patients with Ventilator-associated pneumonia, underscoring the challenge of proper Ventilator-associated pneumonia treatment, which requires continuous reevaluation to ensure that clinical response to therapy meets expectations.

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Abstract Aims The aim of the study was to determine the effect of hydrogen peroxide (HP) mouthwash on the incidence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods This was a randomized clinical trial conducted on 68 patients. The intervention group used 3% HP as mouthwash and the control group used mouthwashes with 0.9% normal saline (NS) twice a day. Data were collected using a questionnaire and the Modified Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (MCPIS). MCPIS includes five items, body temperature: white blood cell count, pulmonary secretions, the ratio of pressure of arterial oxygen (PaO2) to fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2), and the chest X-ray. Each of these items scored 0–2. Scores ≥6 were considered as VAP signs. The SPSS-20 software was employed to analyze the data. Results In total, 14.7% patients of the HP group and 38.2% patients of the NS group contracted VAP. The risk of VAP in the NS group was 2.60 times greater than that in the HP group (RR = 2.60, 95% CI: 1.04–6.49, p = 0.0279). The mean ± SD MCPIS was calculated as 3.91 ± 1.35 in the HP group and 4.65 ± 1.55 in the NS group, a difference statistically significant (p = 0.042). There were no significant differences in the risk factors for VAP between the two groups. Conclusion HP mouthwash was found more effective than NS in reducing VAP. HP mouthwash can therefore be used in routine nursing care for reducing VAP.

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Abstract Coagulase-negative Staphylococcus has been identified as the main nosocomial agent of neonatal late-onset sepsis. However, based on the pharmacokinetics and erratic distribution of vancomycin, recommended empirical dose is not ideal, due to the inappropriate serum levels that have been measured in neonates. The aim of this study was to evaluate serum levels of vancomycin used in newborns and compare the prediction of adequate serum levels based on doses calculated according to mg/kg/day and m2/day. This is an observational reprospective cohort at a referral neonatal unit, from 2011 to 2013. Newborns treated with vancomycin for the first episode of late-onset sepsis were included. Total dose in mg/kg/day, dose/m2/day, age, weight, body surface and gestational age were identified as independent variables. For predictive analysis of adequate serum levels, multiple linear regressions were performed. The Receiver Operating Characteristic curve for proper serum vancomycin levels was also obtained. A total of 98 patients received 169 serum dosages of the drug, 41 (24.3%) of the doses had serum levels that were defined as appropriate. Doses prescribed in mg/kg/day and dose/m2/day predicted serum levels in only 9% and 4% of cases, respectively. Statistical significance was observed with higher doses when the serum levels were considered as appropriate (p < 0.001). A dose of 27 mg/kg/day had a sensitivity of 82.9% to achieve correct serum levels of vancomycin. Although vancomycin has erratic serum levels and empirical doses cannot properly predict the target levels, highest doses in mg/kg/day were associated with adequate serum levels.

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Abstract Introduction Tetanus, an acute infectious disease, is highly prevalent worldwide, especially in developing countries. Due to respiratory failure and hemodynamic instability associated with dysautonomia, severe cases require intensive care, but little has been published regarding the management in the Intensive Care Unit. Objective To draw a 10-year clinical–epidemiological profile of Intensive Care Unit patients with severe tetanus, observe their evolution in the Intensive Care Unit and identify risk factors for mortality. Methods In this retrospective study, we used a standardized questionnaire to collect information from the records of patients with severe tetanus admitted to the intensive care unit of a referral hospital for infectious and contagious diseases in Northeastern Brazil. Results The initial sample included 144 patients, of whom 29 were excluded due to incomplete information, leaving a cohort of 115 subjects. The average age was 49.6 ± 15.3 years, most patients had no (or incomplete) vaccination against tetanus, and most were male. The main intensive care-related complications were pneumonia (84.8%) and dysautonomia (69.7%). Mortality (44.5%) was higher than expected from the mean APACHE II score (11.8), with shock/multiple organ failure as the main cause of death (72.9%). The independent factors most predictive of mortality were APACHE II score, dysautonomia, continuous neuromuscular blockade and age. Conclusion A high mortality rate was observed in our cohort of Intensive Care Unit patients with severe tetanus and a number of risk factors for mortality were identified. Our results provide important insights for the development of intervention protocols capable of reducing complications and mortality in this patient population.

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Abstract Many interventions demonstrate success in adapting the duration of intravenous antibiotic therapy, but few studies have been conducted in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention in the induction of early discontinuation of intravenous antimicrobial therapy and/or its switch to oral therapy. The study employed a before–after intervention design that consisted of displaying a message in the computerized prescription on the third day and suspension of the prescription on the fifth day of intravenous antimicrobial therapy. A total of 465 patients were followed during the control period (CP) and 440 in the intervention period (IP). The intravenous therapy was switched to oral therapy for 11 (2.4%) patients during the CP and 25 (5.7%) in the IP (p = 0.011), and was discontinued for 82 (17.6%) patients during the CP and 106 (24.1%) in the IP (p = 0.017). During the IP there was a significant increase of patients who had their antimicrobial treatment discontinued before the seventh day of intravenous treatment, 37.40% (49/131) in the IP and 16.13% (15/93) in the CP (p = 0.0005). The duration of intravenous antimicrobial therapy decreased by one day, but it was not significant (p = 0.136). It is concluded that the proposed intervention is effective in promoting the early discontinuation of antimicrobial treatment and/or switch to oral therapy. As long as a computerized system for prescription already exists, it is easy and inexpensive to be implemented, especially in hospitals in developing countries.

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Abstract Objectives To compare cultured microorganisms identified on endotracheal tubes biofilms through sonication technique with traditional tracheal aspirate collected at extubation of pediatric intensive care unit patients. Methods Demographic and epidemiological data were analyzed to identify factors possibly related with the microbiological profile of the two collection methods. Associations between categorical and continuous variables were analyzed using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, or Student's t test. p-Value <0.05 were considered significant. Results Thirty endotracheal tubes and tracheal aspirates samples from 27 subjects were analyzed. Only one patient presented the clinical diagnosis of ventilator-associated pneumonia. Overall, 50% of bacteria were Gram-negative bacilli, followed by Gram-positive bacteria in 37%, and fungi in 10%. No statistically significant difference on the distribution of Gram-positive or Gram-negative bacteria (p = 0.996), and fungi (p = 0.985) were observed between the collection methods. Pseudomonas spp. was the most frequent microorganism identified (23.8%), followed by Streptococcus spp. (18.5%), Acinetobacter spp. (15.9%), coagulase-negative staphylococci (11.2%), and Klebsiella spp. (8.6%). Concordant results between methods amounted to 83.3%. Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii showed carbapenem resistance in 50% and 43.7% of the isolates, respectively. In general, cultures after endotracheal tubes sonication (non-centrifuged sonication fluid and centrifuged sonication fluid) yielded bacteria with higher rates of antimicrobial resistance compared to tracheal aspirates cultures. Additionally, in 12 subjects (40%), we observed discrepancies regarding microbiologic profiles of cultures performed using the collection methods. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that sonication technique can be applied to ET biofilms to identify microorganisms attached to their surface with a great variety of species identified. However, we did not find significant differences in comparison with the traditional tracheal aspirate culture approach.

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Abstract Clostridium difficile is a leading cause of diarrhea in hospitalized patients worldwide. While metronidazole and vancomycin are the most prescribed antibiotics for the treatment of this infection, teicoplanin, tigecycline and nitazoxanide are alternatives drugs. Knowledge on the antibiotic susceptibility profiles is a basic step to differentiate recurrence from treatment failure due to antimicrobial resistance. Because C. difficile antimicrobial susceptibility is largely unknown in Brazil, we aimed to determine the profile of C. difficile strains cultivated from stool samples of inpatients with diarrhea and a positive toxin A/B test using both agar dilution and disk diffusion methods. All 50 strains tested were sensitive to metronidazole according to CLSI and EUCAST breakpoints with an MIC90 value of 2 μg/mL. Nitazoxanide and tigecycline were highly active in vitro against these strains with an MIC90 value of 0.125 μg/mL for both antimicrobials. The MIC90 were 4 μg/mL and 2 μg/mL for vancomycin and teicoplanin, respectively. A resistance rate of 8% was observed for moxifloxacin. Disk diffusion can be used as an alternative to screen for moxifloxacin resistance, nitazoxanide, tigecycline and metronidazole susceptibility, but it cannot be used for testing glycopeptides. Our results suggest that C. difficile strains from São Paulo city, Brazil, are susceptible to metronidazole and have low MIC90 values for most of the current therapeutic options available in Brazil.

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Abstract Objective To evaluate whether patient age has a significant impact on mefloquine concentrations in the plasma and erythrocytes over the course of treatment for uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Methods A total of 20 children aged between 8 and 11 years and 20 adult males aged between 22 and 41 years with uncomplicated falciparum malaria were enrolled in the study. Mefloquine was administered to patients in both age groups at a dose of 20 mg kg−1. The steady-state drug concentrations were measured by reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography. Results All patients had an undetectable mefloquine concentration on day 0. In adults, the plasma mefloquine concentrations ranged from 770 to 2930 ng mL−1 and the erythrocyte concentrations ranged from 2000 to 6030 ng mL−1. In children, plasma mefloquine concentrations ranged from 881 to 3300 ng mL−1 and erythrocyte concentrations ranged from 3000 to 4920 ng mL−1. There was no significant correlation between mefloquine concentrations in the plasma and erythrocytes in either adults or children. Conclusion In the present study, we observed no effect of patient age on the steady-state concentrations of mefloquine in the plasma and erythrocytes. We found that the mefloquine concentration in the erythrocytes was approximately 2.8-times higher than in the plasma. There were no significant correlations between mefloquine concentrations in the erythrocytes and plasma for either age group.

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Abstract Antiretroviral therapy has increased the survival of patients with HIV/AIDS, thus necessitating health promotion practice with immunization. Vaccines are critical components for protecting people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The purpose of study was to analyze the vaccination status of PLWHA in outpatient care in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil. Cross-sectional study performed from June 2014 to June 2015. The screening was done with patients in antiretroviral therapy, 420 patients underwent screening, but only 99 met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected for interviews using forms to characterize sociodemographic, clinical and vaccination situations. Only 14 patients had complete vaccination schedules. The most used vaccines were hepatitis B, influenza vaccine and 23-valent pneumococcal. There was no difference between men and women regarding the proportion of PLWHA with full vaccination schedule or between sex, skin color, marital status, sexual orientation, religion or occupational status. There was no difference between having or not having a complete vaccination schedule and age, years of education, family income or number of hospitalizations. CD4+ T-cells count of patients with incomplete immunization was lower than patients with complete immunization. Health education strategies can be done individually or in groups to explain the importance of vaccination and to remind about doses to be administered. Most patients did not have proper adherence to vaccination schedules, especially due to lack of guidance. Results implied that education in health is important for vaccination adhesion, knowledge of adverse events and continuation of schemes.

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Abstract HTLV-1 creates a chronic health condition that involves moderate to severe pain with a negative impact on quality of life (QoL). There is no consensus on which attitudes to pain are more related to the worsening of QoL in HTLV-1 infected patients. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between QoL and multidimensional aspects of pain in patients with HTLV-1. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil. The study included individuals diagnosed with HTLV-1. The Short Form 36 Questionnaire was used to analyze QoL, and the Brief Pain Inventory was used to assess multidimensional aspects of pain. The mean pain intensity was 4.88 ± 3.06 on the visual pain scale, and the average impact on QoL corresponded to a loss of approximately 40%. Moderate to high correlations between pain intensity and all domains of QoL were observed and compared reaction attitudes for general activity, mood, ability to walk, ability to work, relationships, sleep, and ability to enjoy life (r > 0.40; p < 0.05). Moderate correlations were found between all domains of QoL, pain intensity, and reactive attitudes to pain. The greatest pain intensity impacts involved difficulty to walk and to work, and interpersonal relationships in the emotional aspect of QoL.

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Abstract Introduction Advances in the treatment of HIV infection in the last decades have increased life expectancy of these patients and raise the question of what kind of effect chronic infection and its treatment might exert on the behavior of age-related conditions such as neurodegenerative diseases. Patient data We performed a retrospective analysis of patients’ records to assess the frequency of the association between HIV infection and parkinsonian symptoms in our hospital population. Among 249 records we identified four individuals with reported parkinsonian symptoms initiated after HIV diagnosis. Three of them had no other identifiable cause of secondary parkinsonism. All had symptom onset before the age of 60. Based on this study sample one could estimate an incidence rate of nearly 101 per 100.000 person/year, which is similar to the risk of Parkinson's disease in the general population above 70 years. Discussion These findings suggest that HIV infected individuals might be at a higher risk for developing parkinsonism as a manifestation of early neurodegeneration. Prospective and larger studies are needed to address this particular association and its characteristics.

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Abstract Abacavir-induced liver toxicity is a rare event almost exclusively occurring in HLA B*5701-positive patients. Herein, we report one case of abnormal liver function tests occurring in a young HLA B*5701-negative woman on a stable nevirapine-based regimen with no history of liver problems or alcohol abuse after switching to abacavir from tenofovir. We also investigated the reasons for abacavir discontinuation in a cohort of patients treated with abacavir-lamivudine-nevirapine.