EFFECT has demonstrated that octenidine is effective at preventing primary bacteremia. The emphasis lies among Gram-positive bacteria and common skin commensals.

As part of a robust bundle strategy, octenidine can serve as an additional building block in the effort to reduce nosocomial infections and enhance patient safety on ICUs.

We compared the rates of ICU-acquired primary bacteremia and ICU-acquired multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in a multicenter, cluster-randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over study using octenidine-impregnated and placebo washcloths.

On 44 ICUs in 23 hospitals throughout Germany, we compared individual ICUs with themselves over two 12-month time periods.

All data were obtained digitally via hospital information systems as individual ward-movement data and microbiological test results; both endpoints were algorithmically derived.

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