Screening all hospitalised patients can help prevent superbug outbreaks in hospitals: Study

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In a bid to curb the rising superbug outbreaks in hospitals, a new study on Thursday suggested broader screening of all patients, irrespective of their risk.

A team of researchers at the Mount Sinai Brooklyn Hospital in the US conducted a study to compare screen results and patient outcomes before and after adopting a broader screening method that includes all patients, and not just high-risk ones.

The study focussed on screening protocols for Candida auris -- a dangerous and often drug-resistant fungal pathogen that spreads easily in hospital environments. It was first identified in 2009 and is now found around the world.

The results, published in the American Journal of Infection Control, showed that expanding screening helped in the early detection of cases, enabling infection prevention and control teams to isolate them before they could infect other patients or contaminate shared hospital equipment.

While broader screening catches more cases, it requires more resources and can be impractical in healthcare facilities where patients cannot easily be isolated while results are generated.

"Early identification of patients colonised with C. auris allows us to protect other patients and helps to prevent the spread of the pathogen to the hospital environment and shared equipment," said Scott Lorin, president of Mount Sinai Brooklyn.

"When you consider how many other people they came into contact with during their hospital stays, that's a lot of patients kept safer by the implementation of broader screening. This expanded screening protocol has allowed us to detect Candida auris cases earlier, helping us prevent potential hospital outbreaks," Lorin said.

The study was triggered by the case of a single patient, who was admitted to Mount Sinai in 2022 and diagnosed with a C. auris infection after more than two months at the hospital.

As the patient was classified as low-risk, the hospital did not screen for C. auris upon admission.

After diagnosis, the hospital conducted a full outbreak investigation, testing 118 people who were directly exposed to the patient or shared equipment with the patient.

The investigation identified eight additional patients who tested positive for C. auris.

"Expanded screening is an effective infection prevention practice that should be considered at all hospitals, particularly in areas where this pathogen has been circulating," Lorin said.

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