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Completed

NCT Number: NCT01671358

Comparison of Bacterial Contamination Rates Between Isolation and Non-isolation Rooms

This study is to determine if medication cabinets located outside of isolation rooms in hospitals and their contents, particularly medications and the delivery folders are at a higher risk of having harmful bacteria on them.

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Key information

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

West Virginia University Hospitals

Morgantown, West Virginia, 26506, United States

About this study

Studies show high touch areas maybe contaminated with organisms such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci. MRSA can live on hospital surfaces for 9-14 days. Patients in rooms that were previously MRSA isolation rooms are at higher risk for developing a hospital-acquired infection.

This study is to determine if medication cabinets located outside of MRSA isolation rooms and their contents, particularly medications and the pharmacy delivery folders are at a higher risk of having MRSA colonization on them. This study will use conventional methods to determine if MRSA colonization is present and compare results between non-isolation and isolation rooms. This will evaluate if alternate measures for the reduction of MRSA colonization are needed for the MRSA isolation rooms in regards to medication delivery and storage.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Patient rooms with isolation status for MRSA
  • Patient rooms without isolation status for MRSA for 14 days

Exclusion criteria

  • Rooms without medication cabinets directly outside the room

Treatment and study plan

Primary outcomes

  1. Presence of MRSA colonization

    Time frame: Hospital stay, an expected average of 14 days

    Swabbing of four areas of the medication cabinet will be performed (keypad, handle, medication folder and a medication). A Semi-quantitative sampling technique will be used to collect the samples. A sterile saline moistened sterile cotton tip swab will be used to swab the specified areas. The swabs will then be used to inoculate sheep blood agar plates in 4 quadrants. The plates will be incubated for 48 hours. The number of quadrants with growth will be identified. Individual colonies will be removed from the plate with an inoculation loop, then streaked onto a second sheep blood agar plate. The second plates will be incubated for 48 hours. The colonies will then be run through standard identification tests to determine if the colonies are MRSA or not. A comparison will be made between non-isolation and isolation rooms.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Quantification of MRSA colonization

    Time frame: Hospital stay, an expected average of 14 days

    Swabbing of four areas of the medication cabinet will be performed (keypad, handle, medication folder and a medication). A Semi-quantitative sampling technique will be used to collect the samples. A sterile saline moistened sterile cotton tip swab will be used to swab the specified areas. The swabs will then be used to inoculate sheep blood agar plates in 4 quadrants. The plates will be incubated for 48 hours. The number of quadrants with growth will be identified. A comparison between the sites of swabbing will be performed.

Other outcomes

  1. Presence of other bacterial colonization

    Time frame: Hospital stay, an expected average of 14 days

    Swabbing of four areas of the medication cabinet will be performed (keypad, handle, medication folder and a medication). A Semi-quantitative sampling technique will be used to collect the samples. A sterile saline moistened sterile cotton tip swab will be used to swab the specified areas. The swabs will then be used to inoculate sheep blood agar plates in 4 quadrants. The plates will be incubated for 48 hours. The number of quadrants with growth will be identified. Individual colonies will be removed from the plate with an inoculation loop, then streaked onto a second sheep blood agar plate. The second plates will be incubated for 48 hours. The colonies will be categorized as gram negative, gram positive catalase negative, Gram positive coagulase negative Staphylococcus species or methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus. This will serve as a baseline epidemiology of the hospital and generate other possible hypotheses.

  2. Correlation between MRSA and active infection or colonization of patient

    Time frame: Hospital stay, an expected average of 14 days

    The patient from the same time frame in the rooms sampled and positive for MRSA colonization will be reviewed to determine if they had active infection or were previously colonized.

  3. Correlation between colonization of other positive organisms and active infection or colonization of patient

    Time frame: Hospital stay, an expected average of 14 days

    The patient from the same time frame in the rooms sampled and positive for non-MRSA colonization will be reviewed to determine if they had active infection or were previously colonized.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

West Virginia University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Comparison of Contamination Rates of Medication Storage Cabinets Between Isolation and Non-isolation Rooms With Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)

Important dates

Study start
2012
Primary completion
2013
Study completion
2013
First posted
Aug 23, 2012
Registry last updated
Jun 2, 2015

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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