Patients infected with multidrug resistant microorganisms are likely to spread the MDROs when they cough, according to a recent study published in the Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control Journal.
The study found MDRO was transmitted in roughly 18 percent of the cases with coughing patients.
Additionally, researchers discovered the severity of a patient's cough can strongly predict the amount of MDRO transmitted on culture plates and, thus, likely to transmit to other patients.
As a result of the study, researchers found isolating coughing patients with MDROs in their respiratory tract to single-occupancy rooms until symptoms settle may cut down on MDRO transmission. The isolation of patients was a controversial topic however, since assessing the severity of the cough is not a wholly objective method yet.
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