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Press releases 2008
Semmelweis Prize 2008 awarded to research studies on MRSA
On the occasion of the 9th International Congress of the German Association of Hospital Hygiene (DGKH), which took place in the “Russisches Haus” in Berlin from the 20th to the 23rd of April 2008, the Ignaz-Philipp-Semmelweis-Research Prize was awarded for the fifth time. DGKH and BODE Chemie, Hamburg, jointly award this prize for innovative achievements in the area of hygiene and infection prevention.
The international science prize that carries 15,000 EURO in prize money was awarded to two German scientists in equal shares, who dealt with the number one problem among nosocomial germs – the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
MRSA in focus
Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Trautmann, Head of the Institute of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart, and co-authors were rewarded for their paper ”Implementation of an intensified infection control program to reduce MRSA transmissions in a German tertiary care hospital”. This paper describes the implementation of a comprehensive hygiene program for reducing nosocomial MRSA rates at the Kataharinenhospital, Städtisches Klinikum Stuttgart, Germany. The program was developed in 2002 and put into clinical practice in 2003.
The comparison of the numbers before and after the realisation of the hygiene program yielded a significant reduction of the MRSA rate on intensive care units (ICUs) and of invasive MRSA infections on ICUs – although the number of patients carrying MRSA on hospital admission increased. The effectiveness of the program has been monitored and evaluated continuously. To facilitate this, the authors defined the transmission index – the ratio between brought-along and hospital-acquired MRSA cases. Prior to implementing the hygiene program the transmission index was 2.1, afterwards, in 2007, it was 0.6. This means that before intensifying hygiene one MRSA carrier infected 2.1 patients, after the hygiene campaign only 0.6 patients.
Community-acquired MRSA
The „Management of a large healthcare-associated outbreak of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Germany“ is the subject of the second paper for which Priv. Doz. Dr. med. Florian Martin Erich Wagenlehner, Clinic and Policlinic for Urology and Paediatric Urology, University Hospital Gießen and Marburg, Germany, and co-authors were rewarded.
The study deals with the largest Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive MRSA outbreak in Germany that affected both nursing homes and two clinics in East Bavaria in 2004. The authors performed prevalence studies in three affected nursing homes and determined prevalence rates of 7, 10 and 11 percent. Residents and personnel were likewise colonised by the highly pathogenic PVL-positive MRSA strain ST22.
The outbreak management comprised eradication of the MRSA carrier status by applying Mupirocin, repeated antiseptic washes, hygiene inspections and training, and intensification of hand hygiene.
A control study in 2005 showed that the outbreak could be confined and the rate of PVL-positive MRSA could be reduced significantly – a complete eradication was not achieved. However, until the end of 2007, PVL-positive MRSA cases decreased continuously in East Bavaria.
In his honorific speech, Prof. Dr. Axel Kramer, President of the DGKH, emphasised the scientific quality and the practical relevance of the awarded papers. The jury decided on the basis of a ranking, which assesses level of innovation, methodology, evaluation of scientific literature, patient safety, and practicability.
Ignaz-Philipp-Semmelweis-Research Prize – awarded studies:
Trautmann M, Pollitt A, Loh U, Synowzik I, Reiter W, Stecher J, Rohs M, May U, Meyer E.
Implementation of an intensified infection control program to reduce MRSA transmissions in a German tertiary care hospital. American Journal of Infection Control, 2007, 12.
F.M.E. Wagenlehner, K.G. Naber, E. Bambl, U. Raab, C. Wagenlehner, D. Kahlau, C. Höller, W. Witte, W. Weidner, N. Lehn, S. Harbarth, H.-J. Linde.
Management of a large healthcare-associated outbreak of Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in Germany.
Caption:
Semmelweis Prize 2008 awarded research on MRSA:
(f. l. t. r.) Dr. Barbara Krug, Head of Research and Development, BODE Chemie, Hamburg, laureate Dr. Priv. Doz. Dr. med. Florian Martin Erich Wagenlehner, Clinic and Policlinic for Urology and Paediatric Urology, University Hospital Gießen and Marburg, laureate Prof. Dr. med. Matthias Trautmann, Head of the Institute of Hospital Hygiene, Klinikum Stuttgart and the President of the DGKH, Prof. Dr. Axel Kramer, Greifswald.
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