Infection Prevention

In 2009, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene formed a multidisciplinary advisory group of healthcare partners to address surveillance and prevention of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), initially focusing on multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-Ab). MDR-Ab is a rapidly emerging pathogen in a variety of healthcare settings, and is an important patient safety concern. Several acute care hospitals and other healthcare facilities in Maryland identified MDR-Ab as a problem and expressed a desire to address surveillance and infection control concerns in a collaborative fashion. The MDRO/MDR-Acinetobacter Prevention Collaborative determined as its first priority the establishment of baseline MDR-Ab prevalence among mechanically ventilated patients, via a statewide MDR-Ab prevalence survey. Subsequent Collaborative projects exploring factors potentially contributing to the spread of MDR-Ab are underway as a result of the success of this survey.