Cohort Study of German Hematological / Oncological Wards to Assess the Effect of Contact Precautions on Nosocomial Colonization With Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci
Cohort Study of German Hematological / Oncological Wards to Assess the Effect of Contact Precautions on Nosocomial Colonization With Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci
The study aims to evaluate the impact of contact precautions on the rate of VRE- the rate of
 colonization and infection aand hospital-acquired VRE transmissions.

 Hematological and oncological wards in hospitals with a non-outbreak setting for VRE and
 adhering to at least the following standard of care are eligible for study participation:

 Fecal screening for the presence of VRE of all patients within 72 hours of each admission by
 use of a rectal swab or stool sample Follow-up fecal screening once a week and within 72
 hours of discharge Implementation of clinical standards aimed at VRE decolonization is not
 allowed on wards participating in this study, including in the context of clinical studies.

 Sites will be grouped according to their approach regarding contact isolation (see group
 description).

 As a control for external factors a hand hygiene program, including training and adherence
 assessments, will be implemented.

 This observational study prospectively compares wards with different approaches to isolation.
 All screening and isolation measures are already in place on participating wards (i.e.
 constituted a site selection criterion) and are exclusively implemented as part of the
 standard of care. Sites are free to adjust their standard of care as they see fit. No
 intervention will be performed.
-  Inclusion criteria:

 -  Inpatient hospitalization during the study period on one of the participating
 wards.

 -  Exclusion criteria:

 -  None