Routine genomic sequencing can identify and inform hospital infection control personnel of patient transmission events in near real-time, enhancing not only detection, but follow-up and investigation for better outbreak control, according to a study published April 23 in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. The integration of genomic and clinical epidemiologic data analyses detected transmission clusters not identified with standard surveillance of nosocomial infections. Currently, investigation of suspected health care-associated infectious transmissions requires manual surveillance of case clusters by infection control personnel, followed by strain typing of clinical and environmental isolates in suspected clusters. To rapidly detect transmission clusters, the researchers assessed the effectiveness of infection control surveillance using whole-genome sequencing (WGS) of microbial pathogens to identify potential transmission events for epidemiologic review. Prospective sampling of clinical isolates at a single academic medical center occurred from Sept. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017. Surveillance cultures for methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) and vancomycinresistant enterococci were routinely obtained on admission and weekly in the seven adult intensive care units (ICUs), the pediatric ICU, the neonatal ICU, and the bone marrow transplant unit. This study included one isolate per body site per patient per day. Strains of Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus faecium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and […]