GMS Hygiene and Infection Control最新文献

{"title":"Implementation of stethoscope disinfection: an observational study on nursing staff practice and knowledge.","authors":"Seda Şahan, Sevil Güler, Emine Korkmaz","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000485","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000485","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Healthcare-associated infections cause high mortality and morbidity, and lack of stethoscope disinfection is one of the reasons for healthcare-associated infections. Nurses who frequently use stethoscopes in the clinic do not disinfect stethoscopes at high rates. This study aimed to identify the frequency of stethoscope disinfection by nurses and their knowledge about the same.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This was a mixed-methods observational study. The quantitative part of the study included 202 nurses, the qualitative part included 12. Two researchers who made observations during stethoscope use recorded the procedures the nurses performed on the \"Observation Form\". Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted based on phenomenological methods.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>23.7% of the nurses disinfected their stethoscopes before contact with patients, 11.8% after contact with patients and 6.4% before and after contact with patients. The nurses used a stethoscope on an average of 7.42 patients without disinfecting it. In the qualitative interview, some nurses stated that they did not have information about the disinfectants to be used for stethoscopes and their effectiveness. Some of the participants in the present study stated that they did not receive training on stethoscope disinfection and that they did not know that there were guidelines about it.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Since there were deficiencies in the implementation of stethoscope disinfection as well as knowledge, the transfer of knowledge in this context must receive more attention in education and training.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc30"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177224/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141330762","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Incidence of side effects of antituberculosis drugs and their related factors in northern Iran: a retrospective cohort study.","authors":"Motahareh Kheradmand, Mahdi Afshari, Mohsen Aarabi, Siavosh Abedi, Mohammadreza Parsaee, Asghar Nezammahalleh, Mahmood Moosazadeh","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000482","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000482","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Antituberculosis drugs may cause mild, moderate or severe adverse drug reactions (ADR) leading to poor compliance. Description of the pattern of ADR and their related factors can help tuberculosis (TB) control program as part of the WHO programs. This study aims to investigate the incidence of ADR and associated factors among TB patients in northern Iran.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This is a retrospective cohort study. The required information, including year of diagnosis, age, gender, residence area, nationality, HIV co-morbidity, history of anti TB treatment and ADR, was obtained from the Deputy of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Iran. All data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 software.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of 3903 TB patients, 136 (3.5%) experienced major ADR. The incidence of ADR for men and women as well as for those with and without previous treatment history were 3.9% vs. 3.3% and 5.3% vs. 3.4%, respectively (p>0.05). Multiple logistic regression models showed a higher chance of ADR among those aged over 59 compared with those aged under 29 (OR=2.63, 95% confidence interval: 1.54-4.49).</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Age over 59 can be considered a risk factor for ADR with anti-TB drug administration.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc27"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177222/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141332900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Oral herpes simplex virus infection in patients undergoing chemotherapy - an integrative review.","authors":"Aristéa Ribeiro Carvalho, Renan Lemos da Silva, Ed Campos Vieira Neto, Mailon Cury Carneiro, Ana Carolina Fragoso Motta, Ana Paula Campanelli, Cassia Maria Fischer Rubira, Paulo Sérgio da Silva Santos","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000483","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000483","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The purpose of this study is to undertake an integrative literature review in order to determine the prevalence, etiology, and reactivation of oral HSV infection in patients receiving chemotherapy (CT).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The study was carried out in the PubMed/MEDLINE, Embase, Virtual Health Library, and Scopus databases, using the descriptors \"Herpes Simplex\", \"Viral Diseases\", \"Mouth\", and \"Antineoplastic Agents\".</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The findings suggest that HSV infection is widespread in this group of patients and can be severe. HSV infection is frequent in CT patients, and treatment should begin as soon as it is feasible, utilizing antivirals to avoid future difficulties, as patients are immunocompromised.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>It is critical for health professionals to be fully informed on the dangers and treatment choices available, with the most appropriate therapy for each circumstance. Furthermore, more recent research with acceptable methodological rigor is required to better quantify the prevalence of HSV in these patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc28"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177226/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141330763","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Prevalence of heteroresistant Helicobacter pylori and treatment follow-up in patients in Ilam, Iran.","authors":"Sanaz Hosseini, Nahid Mahdian, Leila Gheitani, Mina Mahmoudi, Mohammad Raftari, Ali Hematian, Parvin Bahmaninejad, Behzad Badakhsh, Sobhan Ghafourian","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000479","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000479","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Special antibiotics are prescribed against <i>Helicobacter (H.) pylori</i>. However, sometimes the bacteria are not completely eliminated, or they are recurrent. Unlike most infections, it is very difficult to eliminate a <i>H. pylori</i> infection. Heteroresistance is defined as the phenomenon in which subpopulations of the same colony of bacteria exhibit a range of susceptibilities to a particular antibiotic. Because of heteroresistant cells, antibiotic failure and chronic infection can occur; thus, the current research aimed to investigate presence of heteroresistant cells in <i>H. pylori</i> collected from patients reffering to clinic in Ilam, Iran. Subsequently, patients who were infected with heteroresistant <i>H. p</i> <i>ylori</i> were treated with antibiotics effective against heteroresistant subpopulations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In this cross-sectional descriptive study, 100 patients with clinical symptoms and suspected of being infected with <i>H. pylori</i> were studied in private clinics in Ilam, Iran. Fiftyisolates of <i>H. pylori</i> accompanied by patients' information were obtained from Ilam clinics. We cultured the bacteria to identify heteroresistance and to find the cause of recurrent infection in these patients.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Out of a total of 50 samples, 3 were heteroresistant to clarithromycin (6%). Levofloxacin was applied in cases of heteroresistant samples, and the effectiveness was determined after one month of follow-up of patients.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Patients with heteroresistance showed sensitivity to levofloxacin. After one month of follow-up, it was found that the effectiveness of this antibiotic was good. Therefore, this antibiotic was introduced as a more effective drug in patients with heteroresistant <i>H. pylori</i>.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc24"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177109/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141330764","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Post-operative infections after cardiothoracic surgery and vascular procedures: a bibliometric and visual analysis of the 100 most-cited articles in the past 2 decades.","authors":"Mohsan Ali, Bisma Akram, Masooma Zainab Bokhari, Aleena Ahmed, Amar Anwar, Muhammad Talha, Rawal Alias Insaf Ahmed, Areeba Mariam Mehmood, Bisal Naseer","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000484","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000484","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To recognize and analyze the 100 most-cited articles on post-operative infections following cardiothoracic surgery and vascular procedures in the past 20 years.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Articles published on post-operative infections following cardiothoracic surgery and vascular procedures from inception 1986 till 2020 were reviewed and selected by two authors, based on their number of citations using the Scopus database. Their characteristics were recorded, i.e., title, authors, publication date, total no. of citations, citations per year (CPY), country of research, institutional affiliation, journal, research subject, and article type.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The top 100 most influential articles were published between 1968 and 2017, with the peak in 2002. The mean number of total citations was 236.79 (range: 108-1,157). Areas with a medical focus were predominant in the studied research articles on the researched topic. The top-most journals in which these articles were published include Annals of Thoracic Surgery (14), followed by Circulation (8), and the New England Journal of Medicine (8). The number of publications affiliated with an institution were highest in the United States, with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (6) having the most.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>These findings highlight that there is a great potential to conduct research and publish the prevalence, causes, risk factors, pathogenesis and molecular biology of post-cardiac and -vascular surgery infections to prevent their adverse effects. The results can be taken into consideration for policy making to improve post-cardiac-surgery outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc29"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177225/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141332901","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Characterization of genes involved in the iron acquisition system of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii.","authors":"Leila Azimi, Hadi Hasani, Abdollah Karimi, Seyed Alireza Fahimzad, Fatemeh Fallah, Shima Fatehi, Shahnaz Armin, Mohammadreza Sadr","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000480","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000480","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The high prevalence of virulence-associated genes observed in <i>Acinetobacter baumannii</i> isolates underscores the pathogenic potential of this bacterium. The presence of these genes confers enhanced survival, evasion of host defenses, and increased virulence. In this study, we investigate the presence and distribution of genes associated with virulence and assess the antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in clinical isolates of <i>A. baumannii</i>.</p><p><strong>Materials and method: </strong>This research focused on examining the 50 multi-drugs resistant (MDR) strains that were included in this investigation. The identification of these strains was validated using Oxa-51. The presence of the <i>BauA</i> and <i>BasD</i> genes was determined through conventional PCR techniques.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The results derived from Oxa-51 PCR confirmed the identification of all 50 selected strains of <i>A. baumannii</i>. Additionally, both the <i>BauA</i> and <i>BasD</i> genes were successfully identified in 82% of the MDR strains.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Moreover, the varying antibiotic resistance patterns highlight the challenge in treating <i>A. baumannii</i> infections effectively. Strategies such as combination therapy, antimicrobial stewardship, and infection control measures should be considered to combat this multidrug-resistant pathogen.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc25"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177110/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141330760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Clonal spread of trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-resistant Stenotrophomonas maltophilia isolates in a tertiary hospital.","authors":"Ömür Mustafa Parkan, Hüseyin Kiliç, Emine Alp, Demet Timur, Aycan Gündoğdu, Özlem Ünaldi, Rıza Durmaz","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000481","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000481","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>The aims of this study were to: (i) determine antibiotic susceptibility of clinical <i>Stenotrophomonas maltophilia</i> isolates, (ii) investigate the presence of different classes of integrons and <i>sul</i> genes responsible for sulphonamide resistance, (iii) assess the molecular epidemiology of the isolates by determining their clonal relatedness, and (iv) investigate the potential sources of infection by collecting environmental samples when necessary.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>99 <i>S. maltophilia</i> isolates from clinical specimens of hospitalized patients were screened by PCR for <i>sul1</i>, <i>sul2</i>, <i>sul3</i> genes, and integron-associated integrase genes: <i>intI1</i>, <i>intI2</i>, and <i>intI3</i>. PFGE was used to determine the clonal relatedness of the isolates.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Susceptibility rates for trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, levofloxacin, and ceftazidime were 90.9%, 91.9%, and 53.5% respectively. All trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-resistant isolates were positive for <i>intI1</i> and <i>sul1</i>. PFGE analysis revealed that 24 of the isolates were clonally related, clustering in seven different clones. Five of the nine trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-resistant isolates were clonally related. The first isolate in this clone was from a wound sample of a patient in the infectious diseases clinic, and the other four were isolated from the bronchoalveolar lavage samples of patients in the thoracic surgery unit. The patient with the first isolate neither underwent bronchoscopy nor stayed in the thoracic surgery unit. Although clustering was observed in bronchoalveolar lavage samples, no <i>S. maltophilia</i> growth was detected in environmental samples.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The findings demonstrated that the <i>sul1</i> gene carried by class 1 integrons plays an important role in trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole resistance in <i>S. maltophilia</i> isolates. PFGE analysis revealed a high degree of genetic diversity. However, detection of clonally related isolates suggests the acquisition from a common source and/or cross-transmission of this microorganism between the patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc26"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11177223/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141330761","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cell-based influenza vaccines: An effective vaccine option for under 60-year-olds.","authors":"Barbara C Gärtner, Dietmar Beier, Gunther Gosch, Klaus Wahle, Luise Wendt, Laura-Christin Förster, Kim J Schmidt, Tino F Schwarz","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000476","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000476","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>Seasonal influenza poses a significant burden of disease, affecting not only older adults but also individuals under the age of 60. It carries a high economic burden, mainly driven by influenza-associated productivity losses in the working population. Conventional egg-based influenza vaccines may have reduced effectiveness due to antigen adaptation in eggs. In contrast, cell-based influenza vaccines are less likely to be affected by such antigen adaptation. This review aims to present real-world data (RWD) comparing the effectiveness of quadrivalent cell-based (QIVc) and egg-based (QIVe) influenza vaccines over three consecutive seasons.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A comprehensive review was conducted, analyzing RWD from retrospective cohort and case-control studies on the relative vaccine effectiveness (rVE) of QIVc versus QIVe during the 2017/18-2019/20 seasons.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study included six retrospective cohort studies and one case-control study, with a combined total of approximately 29 million participants. A cohort study involving people aged ≥4 years during the 2017/18 season showed a statistically significant rVE of QIVc compared to QIVe in preventing influenza-like illness, with a value of 36.2%. QIVc demonstrated statistically significant superiority over QIVe in preventing outpatient and inpatient medical encounters as observed in two cohort studies conducted during the 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons. The rVE of QIVc compared to QIVe was found to be 7.6% in individuals aged ≥4 years and 9.5% in individuals aged ≥18 years. Three additional cohort studies conducted between 2017/18-2019/20 reported a statistically significant improvement in rVE (5.3-14.4%) of QIVc compared to QIVe in preventing influenza-related hospitalizations and emergency department visits due to influenza in individuals aged 4-64 years. In a case-control study across all three seasons, QIVc showed statistically significantly higher effectiveness compared to QIVe in preventing test-confirmed influenza, with rVEs of 10.0-14.8%.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>RWD from the 2017/18-2019/20 seasons demonstrated that QIVc is more effective than QIVe in preventing influenza-related outcomes in individuals aged 4-64 years. Preferential use of cell-based influenza vaccines, as opposed to conventional egg-based vaccines, could reduce the burden of influenza-related symptoms on individuals and alleviate the economic impact on the German population under 60 years of age.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc21"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11099537/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141065159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of conducting hand hygiene audits during the COVID-19 pandemic in an intensive care unit at a tertiary care centre in Kerala, India.","authors":"Ardra Mohandas, Chithra Valsan, Sofia Joseph, Resmi Varghese, Jinsy Baby, Shibi Jacob, Nithya Sani, Shyby Babu","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000478","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000478","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The COVID-19 pandemic era had witnessed an upsurge of healthcare-associated infections (HAI) in COVID intensive care units (ICUs), which can be reduced by following proper hand hygiene (HH) practice. Performing HH auditing in COVID ICUs and providing timely feedback to the stake holders is crucial to reduce HAIs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>From July 2021 to December 2021, HH auditing was conducted in COVID ICUs. <i>Hand hygiene</i> (HH) complete adherence rate (HHCAR), HH partial adherence rate (HHPAR) and HH total adherence rate (HHTAR) were analysed. Profession-specific HHTAR and moment-specific HHTAR (for each WHO moment) were also calculated.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>HHCAR, HHPAR and HHTAR were found to be 47%, 19% and 66%, respectively. There was a significant increase in the monthly HHTAR from 62.2% to 72.2% (p<.001). The profession-specific hand-hygiene adherence rate (HHAR) was found to be highest among nurses (67%), and the moment-specific HHAR of WHO-moments 2 (90%) and 3 (94.8%) had the highest HH adherence.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Auditing HH and providing timely feedback significantly improved HH adherence. The greatest need now is to regularly conduct HH auditing in COVID locations of all healthcare facilities to reduce the HAI rate among the COVID-19 infected patients in ICUs.</p>","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc23"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11099538/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141065284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Heat-related mortality in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, from 2000 to 2023.","authors":"Ursel Heudorf, Bernd Kowall, Eugen Domann, Katrin Steul","doi":"10.3205/dgkh000477","DOIUrl":"10.3205/dgkh000477","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;The major heatwave in Europe in August 2003 resulted in 70,000 excess deaths. In Frankfurt am Main, a city with 767,000 inhabitants in the south-west of Germany, around 200 more people died in August 2003 than expected. Soon afterwards, the city introduced adaptation measures to prevent heat-related health problems and subsequently established further mitigation measures to limit climate change. Frankfurt is rated as being one of the cities in Germany to have implemented the best climate adaptation and mitigation measures. This study addressed the following questions: is there already a downward trend in mortality from heat and can this be attributed to the measures taken?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Materials and methods: &lt;/strong&gt;The age-standardized mortality rate (ASR) was calculated for the months of June to August and for calendar weeks 23 to 34 of the individual years on the basis of population data and deaths of the inhabitants of Frankfurt am Main for the years 2000 to 2023. This was related to the meteorological data from the Frankfurt measuring station of the German National Meteorological Service. For four different heat exposure indicators (heat days, days in heat weeks, days in heatwaves and days with heat warnings), the incidence rate (death cases per 1 million person days) (IR) was calculated for days with and without exposure, and the incidence rate difference and the incidence rate ratio (IRR) were estimated to compare days with vs days without exposure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Over the years, the mean daily temperatures tended to increase, and the standardized mortality rate decreased. An increase in ASR was observed during heatwaves up to 2015, but no longer in the later ones. In the summer of 2003, the incidence rate was 16.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 12.2-19.9) per 1 million person days greater on heat days than on days not classified as heat days, and the corresponding incidence rate ratio was 1.64 (95% CI 1.48-1.82). Although the weather data for the summers of 2018 and 2022 were comparable with the record-breaking heat summer of 2003, the incidence rate differences (2018: 3.8, 95% CI 0.9-6.7; 2022: 2.3, 95% CI -0.3-4.9) and the IRR (2018: 1.20, 95% CI 1.05-1.37; 2022: 1.12, 95% CI 0.99-1.26) were considerably lower. Similar results were also obtained when comparing mortality in heat weeks and heatwaves as well as on days with heat warnings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Discussion: &lt;/strong&gt;In summary, our study in Frankfurt am Main not only showed a decrease in heat-related mortality in the population as a whole over the years, but also a decrease in excess mortality during various heat periods (day, week, wave, warning), especially in comparison with the years with very high heat stress and drought (2003, 2018 and 2022). However, whether this development represents success of the intensive prevention measures that have been implemented in the city for years or merely describes a general trend cannot be ans","PeriodicalId":12738,"journal":{"name":"GMS Hygiene and Infection Control","volume":"19 ","pages":"Doc22"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2024-04-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11099539/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141065246","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}