Today on Medscape, CDC experts Drs. Raymund Dante and Alice Guh provide step-by-step guidance for healthcare professionals that can help protect their patients by preventing the transmission of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) in their facilities. CRE are resistant to almost all drugs and can contribute to death in 40% of patients who become infected. Not only are these organisms associated with high mortality rates, but they have the potential to spread quickly.
Healthcare providers should follow 5 key steps:
- Place patients currently or previously colonized or infected with CRE on Contact Precautions
- Wear a gown and gloves when caring for patients with CRE
- Perform hand hygiene – use alcohol-based hand rub or wash hand with soap and water before and after contact with patient or their environment
- Prescribe and use antibiotics wisely
- Discontinue devices like urinary catheters as soon as no longer necessary
Additionally, CDC announced today the release of its 2012 CRE Toolkit. The updated guidance is divided into recommendations for facility-specific CRE prevention and recommendations for a regional approach to CRE control.
View the article on Medscape: http://www.medscape.com/
To learn more about CRE and resources for patients, clinicians, healthcare facilities, and state health departments, visit CDC’s expanded CRE website.
To learn more about how CRE infections are tracked in the United States, visit http://www.cdc.gov/hai/
To view CDC’s latest MMWR on CRE.Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE)
CRE, which stands for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, are a family of germs that are difficult to treat because they have high levels of resistance to antibiotics. Klebsiella species and Escherichia coli (E. coli) are examples of Enterobacteriaceae, a normal part of the human gut bacteria, that can become carbapenem-resistant.Healthy people usually do not get CRE infections. In healthcare settings, CRE infections most commonly occur among patients who are receiving treatment for other conditions. Patients whose care requires devices like ventilators (breathing machines), urinary (bladder) catheters, or intravenous (vein) catheters, and patients who are taking long courses of certain antibiotics are most at risk for CRE infections.
Some CRE bacteria have become resistant to most available antibiotics. Infections with these germs are very difficult to treat, and can be deadly—one report cites they can contribute to death in 40% of patients who become infected.
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