Healthcare Associated Infection — Copper Use as Protection Against Antimicrobial Resistance in the ICU
Citation(s)
Haque M, Sartelli M, McKimm J, Abu Bakar M Health care-associated infections - an overview. Infect Drug Resist. 2018 Nov 15;11:2321-2333. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S177247. eCollection 2018.
Kourbatova EV, Halvosa JS, King MD, Ray SM, White N, Blumberg HM Emergence of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus USA 300 clone as a cause of health care-associated infections among patients with prosthetic joint infections. Am J Infect Control. 2005 Sep;33(7):385-91. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2005.06.006.
Madden GR, Heon BE, Sifri CD Effect of copper-impregnated linens on multidrug-resistant organism acquisition and Clostridium difficile infection at a long-term acute-care hospital. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2018 Nov;39(11):1384-1386. doi: 10.1017/ice.2018.196. Epub 2018 Sep 20.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.
