Observations on ‘hospital infection’ in a plastic surgery ward

Abstract

Over a period of 6 months, wounds and throats in a plastic surgery ward were swabbed. Haemolytic streptococci obtained from them were typed by the late Dr F. Griffith and his staff at the M.E.C. Streptococcal Research Laboratory. 65% or more of the wounds in the ward were found to be infected with Streptococcus pyogenes, but relatively few suffered severe damage as a result of their infection.About a quarter of the cases admitted to the ward acquired streptococcal wound infections while in the ward. Two wound and throat epidemics, one due to type 13 and one to type 4/24 streptococci are described.

Observations on the Disinfection of Hospital Blankets With Quaternary Ammonium Compounds During Laundering

“…Hospital blankets are undoubtedly an important source of cross-infection, and much stress has been laid on their contribution to dust-borne bacterial disease (Deicher, 1927 ;Thomas, 1941 ;Spooner, 1941 ;Van den Ende, Edward & Lush, 1941 ;Garrod, 1944; Wright, Cruickshank t Gunn, 1944;Puck et al, 1946;Loosli et al, 1950). We have shown that soap-and-water laundering does nothing towards sterilizing blankets and, in fact, only redistributes the bacteria among them, thus indicating a route of infection from patient to patient and even from ward to ward.…”

The bacterial flora of wounds and septic lesions of the hand

“…Excised tissue wm well rubbed up in the broth in the collecting bottle with a sterile glass rod and the broth then transferred to the same culture media as were used for the swab samples. Staphylococci and streptococci were isolated from cultures containing Proteus vulgaris by the use of the Butcher plate (Spooner, 1941a) or latterly on blood agar plates containing 6 per cent. of agar instead of the usual 2 per cent.…”

Design of Dressing Stations and Control of Wound Infection

“…The occurrence of wound to wound infection has been attested by several recent reports (Miles et al, 1940;Spooner, 1941;McKissock, et al 1941) and McKissock et al were able to show that it could be controlled by the introduction of a dressing technique designed to minimize the transference of pathogenic organisms from one wound to another. We have been able to confirm these observations (Williams, Clayton-Cooper, Howat and Miles, unpublished).…”