Building a Foundation for CRE Control in Illinois

On CDC's Safe Healthcare blog, Erica Runningdeer, MSN, MPH, RN, healthcare-associated infection coordinator in the Division of Patient Safety and Quality at the Illinois Department of Public Health, discusses how the state of Illinois is building a foundation for Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) control. The post is the second in a three-part series related to CDC’s August 2015 Vital Signs: Making Health Care Safer: Stop Spread of Antibiotic Resistance.

CDC modeling in the Vital Signs report projects that with a coordinated approach-that is, healthcare facilities and health departments in an area working together-up to 70 percent of life-threatening CRE infections could be prevented over five years. While the coordinated approach the Vital Signs report describes is a forward-looking approach, some states are already implementing the response in a variety of different ways. This three-part blog series spotlights the current efforts in Tennessee, Illinois and Wisconsin.

Learn more and join the conversation at: http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/?p=4581. Read about Tennessee’s geographic variation of CRE and implications for prevention at: http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare/?p=4572. Stay tuned for part 3 of the blog series on Aug. 13.