This paper is only available as a PDF. To read, Please Download here.
Background
The movement of premature Extremely Low Birthweight (ELBW) neonates imposes risk for
brain hemorrhage. In response to this concern, the babies in the Neonatal Intensive
Care Unit (NICU) were enrolled in the newly adopted Intraventricular Hemorrhage (IVH)
Prevention Bundle, where infants were immobilized in supine position for the first
seventy-two hours of life. Four neonates from the NICU were diagnosed with Primary
Cutaneous Aspergillus (PCA) infection after exposure to this life-saving protocol.
Methods
An internal multi-disciplinary team was convened to investigate these four cases.
The case definition included infants who were enrolled in the IVH protocol starting
in 2016. A review of the NICU's environment-of-care (EOC) elements was performed.
This included retrospective air-quality culture surveillance data for molds available
from 2016 to July 2017, internal incubator conditions, NICU construction and renovation
activities, linen management, and the cleaning and disinfection of the infant immobilization/positioning
device. During this investigation, air and surface samples were also collected to
test for molds.
Results
The air sampling results were consistent with our facility's normal thresholds for
air quality surveillance and the surface samples from linen, incubator, and all associated-IVH
supplies were negative for molds. High humidity induced condensation was observed
inside the incubators. Infection Control Risk Assessments were reviewed and were determined
to be appropriate for unit-based construction activities. Subsequent mitigation strategies
were instituted to include improvement in linen management, incremental decrease in
humidity to reduce condensation, and more frequent patient re-positioning and incubator
linen replacements. No additional cases were detected after the 4th case to-date.
Conclusions
The use of prevention bundles is an important component in improving healthcare-associated
outcomes. In the case of the IVH prevention bundle for premature ELBW neonates in
this NICU, careful attention and fine adjustments to the infant's environment-of-care
needs were essential to the successful application of this life-saving protocol.
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to American Journal of Infection ControlAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
Article info
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Published by Elsevier Inc.
