Background-Observational studies suggest that open visiting policies are preferred by most patients and visitors in intensive care units (ICUs), but no randomized trial has compared the safety and health outcomes of unrestrictive (UVP) and restrictive (RVP) visiting policies. The aim of this pilot, randomized trial was to compare the complications associated with UVP (single visitor with frequency and duration chosen by patient) and RVP (single visitor for 30 minutes twice a day). Methods and Results-Two-month sequences of the 2 visiting policies were randomly alternated for 2 years in a 6-bed ICU, with 226 patients enrolled (RVP/UVP, nϭ115/111). Environmental microbial contamination, septic and cardiovascular complications, emotional profile, and stress hormones response were systematically assessed. Patients admitted during the randomly scheduled periods of UVP received more frequent (3.2Ϯ0.2 versus 2.0Ϯ0.0 visits per day, meanϮSEM) and longer (2.6Ϯ0.2 versus 1.0Ϯ0.0 h/d) visits (PϽ0.001 for both comparisons). Despite significantly higher environmental microbial contamination during the UVP periods, septic complications were similar in the 2 periods. The risk of cardiocirculatory complications was 2-fold (odds ratio 2.0; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.5; Pϭ0.03) in the RVP periods, which were also associated with a nonsignificantly higher mortality rate (5.2% versus 1.8%; Pϭ0.28). The UVP was associated with a greater reduction in anxiety score and a significantly lower increase in thyroid stimulating hormone from admission to discharge. Conclusions-Despite

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Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as a risk factor for patients in general population and particularly in immunocompromised patients. As a matter of fact, it can produce serious infections that may then evolve in septicaemia. However, transmission of MRSA from food to people can represent a serious problem only for immunocompromised people. Vancomycin is the elective antimicrobial commonly used in case of MRSA infection, but S. aureus strains with reduced sensibility to vancomycin are emerging worldwide. We isolated 42 strains of S. aureus from 176 samples of raw meat (poultry, pork and beef) during a one-year survey. Each strain was tested against twelve antimicrobial to verify antibiotic resistance. We found no evidence of methicillin-, teicoplanin-or vancomycin-resistance, but a lot of multiresistant microorganisms, i.e. resistant to three or more antibiotics. These results confirm the hypothesis that antibiotics resistance is present not only in nosocomial bacteria, but also in community environments microorganisms.

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