Central Line-associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI)
Introduction to CLABSI
The central line associated blood stream infection is a confirmed laboratory illness that attacks the bloodstream of human beings. The infection attacks patients who have been on the central line within a timeframe of 48 hours before the bloodstream infection develops. The central line is a hollow pipe positioned in a huge vein located at the torso, groin, neck, or arm. The tube’s main use is to pass liquids, medications, withdrawn blood, or to observe the conditions of the patient. The central line is usually different from other standard intravenous lines because it penetrates deeper into the body and terminates close to the human heart. The same procedure of the insertion may be used for several weeks or even months. In small babies, the central line is usually inserted in the umbilical cord or into a large vein. The bloodstream infection, therefore occurs when the infectious microorganisms travel through the pipe or attack and multiply on the tubing (Parra et al., 2010). The organisms may also increase and attack themselves on the fluid administered through the tubing whereby they find themselves into the blood. In most cases, CLABSIs are not reported in hospitals like any other disease. Rather, cases are reported in special intensive care units (ICUs). These are the healthcare units that offer rigorous scrutiny and cares for the sick who suffer from, or are at a risk of mounting serious medical problems. In 2012, for instance, 169 hospitals reported cases of CLABSIs in different types of ICUs. CLABSIs were selected because it is one of the unrecognized diseases by many people and is the cause of thousands of deaths every year. Also, the infections cost the United States billions of dollars every year yet they are preventable. Also, the CDC is providing guidelines and tools to the healthcare fraternity to help curb the deaths caused by the infections (Dumont et al., 2012).
The Epidemiology of CLABSIs
The infection by the CLABSIs is supposed to meet one of several criteria. The initial criterion is that the patient should have renowned pathogen refined from one or many blood cultures. Also on the first criterion, the creatures cultivated from the blood should not be associated to another virus at another position. Another criterion states that the ill should have experienced one of these symptoms: fever, hypotension, and chills. The final criterion states that patients who are less than one year old should have at list one of the following indications: fever, apnoea, hypothermia, or bradycardia. On the same criterion, common skin contaminant should be cultured from more than two blood cultures which are drawn from separate occasions. In 2012, approximately 735 cases of CLABSIs were reported from different medical sectors of the healthcare (Rinke et al., 2013). They involve: surgical, medical, coronary, neurosurgical, cardiothoracic, neonatal ICUs, and pediatric. Of these sectors, pediatric ICU reported high instances of the disease while the least was from cardiothoracic ICU. The most common microorganisms that cause the disease are Enterococci, coagulase-negative Staphylococci, and yeast. Other bacteria involved in the infection are Klebsielle ssp and Staphylococcus aureas. For instance, in 2012, staphylococcus aureas represented the largest proportion on the infections than in the year 2011 (Rinke et al., 2013).
There are a number of risk factors involved in the CLABSIs infection. Many healthcare centers don’t gather patient-specific risk aspects of the infection in adults and pediatric ICUs. Rather, the NHSN insists that the hospitals report the whole figure of sick people days and the whole figure of central line days. The occurrence of CLABSIs is stratified by the kind of ICU. In the instance of BSIs in NICUs, for example, the information is usually collected using the technique of the birth weight group. This is because inferior birth weight babies are normally more vulnerable to the infection than their higher birth weight children counterparts. Despite the risk factors involved with the infection, the disease has significantly reduced since it was last reported in 2007. It is approximated that the infection has reduced by 53% since its inception (Parra et al., 2010). There a number of guidelines that should be followed in order to prevent or reduce the rate of CLABSIs. One of the guideline is providing education and training to the healthcare personnel. Any particular effort to reduce the rate of CLABSI begins with providing training to competent staff members. Thus, education and training should be the number one measure to be put in place. In addition, all the healthcare personnel who insert and maintain the CVCs should be knowledgeable and competent. Further, medical practitioners should maintain hand hygiene when handling patients. Maintaining a high hygiene is an important measure in preventing the spread of infections. Finally, there should be a CVC insertion preparation. There are a number of factors that should be put into consideration when preparing for the CVC insertion. CLABSIs are also known to cause morbidity and mortality within the health-care system. The preventive measures shown above have significantly proved to reduce cases of the infections according to a research done on the issue (Rinke et al., 2013).
Discussion of the Data Collected
The data was collected from the CDC databases and reflects on the widespread and the achievement made on preventing the occurrence of the CLABSI infection. It is evident that in the recent days, the number of surgeries have increased by the number of people infected have reduced. There is a reduction in the number of people affected after surgeries in recent times as compared to the earlier days. It is also evident from the data that an increase in the number of surgeries always results to an equivalent high number of people infected. The number of population at risk depends on the number of patients at the ICU at that particular hospital. However, the implications of prevention and control that has been enacted by many hospitals have seen the number of infections reduce significantly. This is because the medical practitioners have gained the necessary knowledge and training required to handle ICU patients. It is also evident from the data that different ICU centers have different number of patients and also different numbers of surgeries and people infected. The most notorious microorganisms are Enterococcus and Staphyloccocus aureas (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2015)
Summary/Conclusion
The data used was collected from the CDC databases. The data is as a result of research that was done on the widespread of CLABSIs on different ICU centers. The different ICU centers are found in different hospitals. The research was also done to proof that medical care practitioners have adopted means of reducing CLABSIs. It is important that surgeons continue to be vigilant and careful when handling ICU patients.
APPENDIX
CLABSIs Tracking Sheet (Information Borrowed from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention)
References
Parra, A. P., Menárguez, M. C., Granda, M. J. P., Tomey, M. J., Padilla, B., & Bouza, E. (2010). A simple educational intervention to decrease incidence of central line–associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in intensive care units with low baseline incidence of CLABSI. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 31(09), 964-967.
Dumont, C., & Nesselrodt, D. (2012). Preventing central line-associated bloodstream infections CLABSI. Nursing2015, 42(6), 41-46.
Rinke, M. L., Bundy, D. G., Milstone, A. M., Deuber, K., Chen, A. R., Colantuoni, E., & Miller, M. R. (2013). Bringing central line–associated bloodstream infection prevention home: CLABSI definitions and prevention policies in home health care agencies. Joint Commission journal on quality and patient safety/Joint Commission Resources, 39(8), 361.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (2015). Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection (CLABSI) Event: Guidelines and procedures for monitoring CLABSI, 2011.
