Israeli national policy for carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae screening, carrier isolation and discontinuation of isolation

Ester Solter, Amos Adler, Bina Rubinovitch, Elizabeth Temkin, David Schwartz, Debby Ben-David, Samira Masarwa, Yehuda Carmeli, Mitchell J. Schwaber*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

Since 2006, Israel has been confronting an outbreak of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and in 2007 Israel implemented a national strategy to contain spread. The intervention was initially directed toward acute-care hospitals and later expanded to include an established reservoir of carriage in long-term-care hospitals. It included regular reporting of CRE cases to a central registry and daily oversight of management of the outbreak at the institutional level. Microbiological methodologies were standardized in clinical laboratories nationwide. Uniform requirements for carrier screening and isolation were established, and a protocol for discontinuation of carrier status was formulated. In response to the evolving epidemiology of CRE in Israel and the continued need for uniform guidelines for carrier detection and isolation, the Ministry of Health in 2016 issued a regulatory circular updating the requirements for CRE screening, laboratory diagnosis, molecular characterization, and carrier isolation, as well as reporting and discontinuation of isolation in healthcare institutions nationwide. The principal elements of the circular are contained herein.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)85-89
Number of pages5
JournalInfection Control and Hospital Epidemiology
Volume39
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2018

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