Even NFL Stars LOVE Contact Precautions


What do we love most of all on this blog? Yup - contact precautions. Humor!

Well, I do have respect for the utility of gloves in preventing HAIs and MDRO transmission- but I've never been sure of gowns. It's just that they are pretty annoying to don and doff and little evidence supports any additional benefit above wearing just gloves. I mean, if Rob Gronkowski from the almost champion New England Patriots can't even put on a gown correctly, what chance do we mere mortals have, seriously. Maybe that's the reason why the benefits of gowns and gloves for preventing MRSA and VRE are so hard to estimate?

There are many other reasons why the benefits of contact precautions for endemic MDRO are so hard to quantify, of course. In this week's JAMA, Mike Rubin, Matt Samore and Anthony Harris have written a very nice Viewpoint acknowledging the limitations in the current literature.  In addition, they point out why studying infection prevention interventions is so tricky and suggest a path forward. They should be commended for their thoughtfulness and honesty - something those of us (including me) who support other policies with even weaker evidence bases should remember. If Gronk is having trouble with contact precautions, it's OK if some of the rest of us do too.

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