Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1293502
12 INFECTION CONTROL COVID-19 infection control failures at Pennsylvania facility put 128 residents in immediate jeopardy By Gabrielle Masson C onditions at Spring City, Pa.-based Southeastern Veterans' Center placed 128 of 154 residents in immediate jeopardy, a June inspection found, according to e Washington Post. For several months, administration at the nursing home didn't have safety plans for managing sick patients, conducting contact tracing or protecting residents from infec- tion, according to a 92-page report by the Pennsylvania Department of Health. "We weren't allowed to wear PPE, or we would get written up," a staff member told an inspector, according to the report. "We were told it would scare the residents." Workers exposed to COVID-19 were placed on units with healthy residents, and a nursing aide came back to work two days aer she tested positive for COVID-19, the inspection found. e report also details a lack of hand-washing and a failure to clean equipment and enforce social distancing. e report tied many of the issues to the home's former commandant and the director of nursing. Both were suspended in May. Hydroxychloroquine was given to numer- ous patients, though the new report does not mention the use of the anti-malaria medication, according to the Post. It's not known whether the drug contributed to any fatalities at the facility, which has recorded 42 COVID-19 deaths. A spokesperson for the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, which operates Southeastern, said the department has submit- ted a request to dispute the report findings. A temporary outside management team was hired to help until staff return to normal operations, Department of Military and Vet- erans Affairs communications director Joan Zlogar Nissley wrote in an email to the Post. e facility filed a plan of correction. e in- spection report did not outline whether the home would face fines or other penalties. n 1st case of resistant bacterial meningitis confirmed in US By Mackenzie Bean C hildren's National Hospital in Washington, D.C., treated what is believed to be the first case of resistant bacterial meningitis in the U.S., according to a study published in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society. The case occurred in January and involved a 5-month-old boy from Maryland. Clinicians gave the infant broad-spectrum antibiotics and discharged him after a week in the hospital, according to a report from the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis. Clinicians tested bacterial samples from the boy, which showed resis- tance to five antibiotics, including penicillin and ciprofloxacin. These two antibiotics are commonly used to treat bacterial meningitis and prevent infection in patients' close contacts. Researchers said this is likely the first known infection caused by be- ta-lactamase-producing Neisseria meningitidis in the U.S. "My laboratory at Children's National Hospital has a keen focus on de- tecting life-threatening antimicrobial resistance in pathogens infecting our patients," Joseph Campos, PhD, a study author and director of the hospital's microbiology lab, told Becker's via email. "Penicillin resistance in Neisseria meningitidis is virtually unheard of in the United States yet we have always tested for it because of the serious consequences it can have. In this instance, we were shocked by our test result, but we made sure the patient's physician was made aware of it immediately." Based on the study's findings, routine susceptibility testing of me- ningococcal samples could help inform treatment and prevention, researchers concluded. n New Hampshire hospital postpones surgeries over sterilization issues By Ayla Ellison W entworth-Douglass Hospital in Dover, N.H., had to postpone some surgeries after its steril- ization equipment malfunctioned in July, according to Fosters. A hospital spokesperson told Fosters that dozens of surgical procedures were post- poned as the hospital determined if the equipment needed to be replaced. The hospital is replacing the equipment and expects to restart procedures by the week of Aug. 24. Wentworth-Douglass Hospital was able to continue emergency procedures after the sterilization equipment failed because local hospitals helped with sterilizing operating room tools, according to the report. A hospital spokesperson said there was never any risk to patients. n