BALTIMORE, Dec. 27 -- There is an easy route to many fewer potentially lethal blood-stream infections, according to researchers at two institutions. They employed cheap common-sense measures like hand washing, removal of unneeded catheters, and the use of safer catheter sites. These mundane approaches paid off in dramatic fashion. In an 18-month cohort study of 103 Michigan ICUs, the interventions reduced catheter-related infections by as much as 66%, Peter Pronovost, M.D., Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins here and colleagues at the University of Michigan reported in the Dec. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. >>> Discuss This Story
