The effect on sepsis rates of closing and cleaning hospital wards

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Abstract
Sepsis rates were studied in five hospital wards before and after closure for cleaning. Each ward was closed because of an outbreak of Staph. aureus infection caused by a cloxacillin-resistant strain. The study shows that sepsis rates, especially sepsis caused by hospital strains of Staph. aureus, were greatly reduced in the three-month period following re-opening of the ward, provided that patients infected with such organisms were not readmitted to or allowed to remain in the ward.