This time, it is the use of single occupancy rooms for contact precautions and the control of ESBL pathogens. The study was published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases and employed a 16 hospital cluster randomized strategy for contact precautions in single bed room versus contact precautions with multiple-bed rooms for patients with ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae cultured from routine clinical samples.Transmission risk assessment was judged by rectal carriage of ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae in at least one wardmate.
Multiple-bed room contact precautions for ESBL-producing Enterobacteriaceae was not inferior to contact isolation in a single occupancy room.
This provides valuable information for a more pragmatic approach to the use of contact precautions for the control of multidrug resistant organisms, particularly when a scarcity of single occupancy rooms exists. A very Satisfice approach to infection prevention.
