TY - JOUR
T1 - Relationship between chlorhexidine gluconate concentration and microbial colonization of patients' skin
AU - the CDC Prevention Epicenters Program
AU - Rhee, Yoona
AU - Simms, Andrew T.
AU - Schoeny, Michael
AU - Baker, Arthur W.
AU - Baker, Meghan A.
AU - Gohil, Shruti
AU - Rhee, Chanu
AU - Talati, Naasha J.
AU - Warren, David K.
AU - Welbel, Sharon
AU - Lolans, Karen
AU - Bell, Pamela B.
AU - Fukuda, Christine
AU - Hayden, Mary K.
AU - Lin, Michael Y.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s), 2024.
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - Objective: To characterize the relationship between chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) skin concentration and skin microbial colonization. Design: Serial cross-sectional study. Setting/participants: Adult patients in medical intensive care units (ICUs) from 7 hospitals; from 1 hospital, additional patients colonized with carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) from both ICU and non-ICU settings. All hospitals performed routine CHG bathing in the ICU. Methods: Skin swab samples were collected from adjacent areas of the neck, axilla, and inguinal region for microbial culture and CHG skin concentration measurement using a semiquantitative colorimetric assay. We used linear mixed effects multilevel models to analyze the relationship between CHG concentration and microbial detection. We explored threshold effects using additional models. Results: We collected samples from 736 of 759 (97%) eligible ICU patients and 68 patients colonized with CPE. On skin, gram-positive bacteria were cultured most frequently (93% of patients), followed by Candida species (26%) and gram-negative bacteria (20%). The adjusted odds of microbial recovery for every twofold increase in CHG skin concentration were 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80-0.87; P <.001) for gram-positive bacteria, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.98; P =.008) for Candida species, 0.96 (95% CI, 0.91-1.02; P =.17) for gram-negative bacteria, and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.84-1.06; P =.33) for CPE. A threshold CHG skin concentration for reduced microbial detection was not observed. Conclusions: On a cross-sectional basis, higher CHG skin concentrations were associated with less detection of gram-positive bacteria and Candida species on the skin, but not gram-negative bacteria, including CPE. For infection prevention, targeting higher CHG skin concentrations may improve control of certain pathogens.
AB - Objective: To characterize the relationship between chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG) skin concentration and skin microbial colonization. Design: Serial cross-sectional study. Setting/participants: Adult patients in medical intensive care units (ICUs) from 7 hospitals; from 1 hospital, additional patients colonized with carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) from both ICU and non-ICU settings. All hospitals performed routine CHG bathing in the ICU. Methods: Skin swab samples were collected from adjacent areas of the neck, axilla, and inguinal region for microbial culture and CHG skin concentration measurement using a semiquantitative colorimetric assay. We used linear mixed effects multilevel models to analyze the relationship between CHG concentration and microbial detection. We explored threshold effects using additional models. Results: We collected samples from 736 of 759 (97%) eligible ICU patients and 68 patients colonized with CPE. On skin, gram-positive bacteria were cultured most frequently (93% of patients), followed by Candida species (26%) and gram-negative bacteria (20%). The adjusted odds of microbial recovery for every twofold increase in CHG skin concentration were 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80-0.87; P <.001) for gram-positive bacteria, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.89-0.98; P =.008) for Candida species, 0.96 (95% CI, 0.91-1.02; P =.17) for gram-negative bacteria, and 0.94 (95% CI, 0.84-1.06; P =.33) for CPE. A threshold CHG skin concentration for reduced microbial detection was not observed. Conclusions: On a cross-sectional basis, higher CHG skin concentrations were associated with less detection of gram-positive bacteria and Candida species on the skin, but not gram-negative bacteria, including CPE. For infection prevention, targeting higher CHG skin concentrations may improve control of certain pathogens.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85194397992&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1017/ice.2024.81
DO - 10.1017/ice.2024.81
M3 - Article
C2 - 38804007
AN - SCOPUS:85194397992
SN - 0899-823X
VL - 45
SP - 1079
EP - 1084
JO - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
JF - Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
IS - 9
ER -