Nursing Homes in Puerto Rico Rely on Zimmetry to Identify Environmental Pathogens

Last month, the Columbia University School of Nursing published a news release about a study that found rising infection rates at nursing homes across the country.  After examining infections in nursing homes in the United States over a 5 year period, the study concluded that rates of a variety of infections are increasing, including those caused by multiple drug-resistant organisms (MDROs).
 
The report showed an 18% increase in multiple drug-resistant bacterial infections and an 11% increase in pneumonia.  The news release goes on to discuss how hand hygiene, contaminated surfaces and air quality problems can all impact infection rates in nursing homes.
 
“Infections are a leading cause of deaths and complications for nursing home residents, and with the exception of tuberculosis we found a significant increase in infection rates across the board,” said lead study author Carolyn Herzig, MS, Project Director of the Prevention of Nosocomial Infections & Cost Effectiveness in Nursing Homes (PNICE-NH) study at Columbia Nursing. “Unless we can improve infection prevention and control in nursing homes, this problem is only going to get worse as the baby boomers age and people are able to live longer with increasingly complex, chronic diseases.”
 
Across Puerto Rico and the Caribbean, nursing homes have access to the indoor environmental quality professionals at Zimmetry Environmental.  “As drug-resistant microorganisms such as C. diff, MRSA and CRE show up increasingly in nursing homes, it is vital that the residents, many of whom may have a weakened immune system, not be exposed to these harmful pathogens,” said Harry Pena, President of Zimmetry Environmental. “The staff need to practice good hand hygiene and ensure that surfaces are properly and consistently disinfected.   Healthy indoor air quality can also play a significant role in reducing illnesses and some types of infections.  At Zimmetry, our indoor environmental experts can help to identify both bacteria and fungi from surfaces and air samples.  These services can help to prevent outbreaks, pinpoint the source of an outbreak if one has already occurred, and verify that surface disinfection protocols are working.”   
 
To learn more about infection control, environmental pathogens or indoor air quality in nursing homes or other types of buildings, please visit www.zimmetry.com, call (787) 995.0005 or email info@zimmetry.com .
 
About Zimmetry Environmental
Since 2002, Zimmetry Environmental has been providing environmental consulting services to building owners and managers, architects, engineers, EHS professionals and Fortune 500 companies.  The company is based in Puerto Rico and provides services across the Caribbean and Central America.  The professionals at Zimmetry offer environmental compliance, indoor air quality (IAQ), asbestos, lead-based paint, Phase I ESAs and general environmental consulting services.

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Paul Cochrane

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