Infection in the hospital Doctors are targeting cleaners

There are no completely germ-free areas in the hospital - not even in the operating room. According to experts, it is an illusion to believe that better hygiene measures could actually achieve a condition without pathogens. Nevertheless, the germ burden can be significantly reduced by simple hygiene rules. In particular, it is dangerous for patients to develop multidrug-resistant bacteria against which hardly any antibiotic is effective. At the University Hospital Greifswald, the doctors tried for weeks after such a source of infection. As it turned out, it was a cleaning rag of the cleaning column.

Multidrug-resistant bacteria in the hospital can cause serious infections
Again and again it comes to serious infections in German hospitals. In most cases, multidrug-resistant germs are the cause of the sometimes deadly course of the disease. Many people carry the pathogens in themselves, but they are only dangerous in patients with weakened immune systems such as after surgery or in chronic diseases. Therefore, physicians call patients and employees better informed about hygiene measures and enforce their compliance. Claus-Dieter Heidecke, Director of the Department of Surgery at the University of Greifswald, therefore refers to the basic rules of hygiene in an interview with the news agency "dpa".

According to the German Society of Surgery (DGCH), "around 500,000 people in Germany suffer from infection by germs with which they have been infected in hospitals every year." Every year, 15,000 people die from it. According to the DGCH, "about every third infection" would be avoidable. Of particular concern is the increasing number of multidrug-resistant pathogens. "We have practically no weapon against such germs in our hands," said Peter Vogt, Congress President of DGCH, to the news agency. According to Heidecke, prevention should be started before a patient is admitted to a clinic. In Greifswald there are questionnaires. If it emerges that a patient fulfills a risk factor, appropriate examinations and treatments would be initiated and, if necessary, operations would be postponed.

Source of the pathogen was a swab
"Patients need to get involved in the problem. You must know: There is no germ-free area in the hospital, "explains Heidecke, who is also the President of the German Society for General and Visceral Surgery. "Simple measures such as disinfecting the toilet seat, hands and doorknobs before and after each flush can significantly reduce the risk of infection." Patients should also contact doctors and nurses if they notice any hygiene issues.

If it comes to infections, you must search for the source of the pathogens. In one case, a germ has been introduced to the hospital, with which "only" ten patients have been infected, Heidecke. The pathogen was "very persistent" and was long detectable in ventilation systems for example. "We spent weeks wandering around to find out: it was the cleaning crew that always took the same rag."

From April 28 to May 1, 2015, the 132nd DGCH Congress will take place in Munich. Then around 5,000 physicians will discuss topics such as multidrug-resistant germs. (Ag)

Image: Sebastian Karkus

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