Fighting the rising resistance: what can we do?
Drug-resistant bacteria—they’re tiny in stature, but pose a potentially widespread global danger.
So much so that they rank at the highest level of threat to public health, ‘urgent’, according to the U.S.-based Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The medications that successfully treated certain bacterial infections as recently as five years ago are now either less effective or completely ineffectual.
That’s why it’s crucial to prevent the transmission of these infections altogether. Healthcare professionals are already familiar with the most simple and effective, tried-and-true strategies in stopping the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.
Need a refresher? Dr. Yves Longtin obliges in his October 26 rounds lecture, delivered at the JGH during Infection Prevention and Control Week. The JGH Chair of the Infection, Prevention and Control Program urges staff to “do well what we’re supposed to do,” such as proper screening and equipment disinfection. And never underestimate the effectiveness of hand hygiene, that low-hanging fruit… it costs pennies, takes seconds, has no effect on bed flow and accelerates the discharge of patients. “We’re all in this together,” says Dr. Longtin. He advises staff not only to encourage colleagues to comply with these basic measures, but to model hand-hygiene compliance to visitors, who take their cue from healthcare providers.
Watch Dr. Longtin’s presentation on the CIUSSS intranet at Training > Infection prevention and control.
