Designates Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) as a communicable disease, and requires general hospitals to identify, track and report upon such disease

2 Co-sponsors

• Simcha Felder
• William J. Larkin Jr.

BILL NUMBER:S781

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to designating Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) as a communicable disease and requiring general hospitals to identify and track the incidence of such communicable disease in accordance with the hospital acquired infection reporting system

Purpose

Designates Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) as a communicable disease, and requires physicians, hospitals, or institutions to identify, track, and report upon such disease.

Summary of provisions

Section one amends Article 21 of the Public Health Law by adding a new Title eight. Section 2180 of Title eight requires the Commissioner to designate CRE as a communicable disease in the sanitary code and requires general hospitals to track each incidence of CRE and report such incidences on a monthly basis to the department in accordance with the state's hospital acquired infection reporting system.

Section two amends § 2819 of the Public Health Law to include CRE as a hospital acquired infection.

Section three states the effective date.

Justification

The Center for Disease Control has called CRE the "nightmare bacteria," and issued a March 2013 report calling for rapid action. CRE bacteria are difficult to treat because they are resistant to commonly used antibiotics. Some CRE bacteria have become resistant to almost all available antibiotics and can be deadly-one report cites they can contribute to death in up to 50% of patients who become infected. Further, CRE can turn other bacteria in the body into drug-resistant bacteria as well.

CRE infections are most commonly seen in sick patients with exposure to health care settings like hospitals and long-term care facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals. Patients whose care requires devices like ventilators, urinary catheters, or intravenous catheters, and patients who are taking long courses of certain antibiotics are among those most at risk for CRE infections. Bacteria are spread by person-to-person contact, mostly via hands. The CDC has urged doctors, hospital leaders and public health professionals to work together to implement the CDC's "detect and protect" strategy to stop these infections from spreading. One such measure is the reporting by medical facilities of any instances of CRE.

This legislation responds to the CDC's suggested strategies by making mandatory the reporting of CRE. Cases of CRE should be reported and track by the Department of Health to adequately address incidences and

ensure appropriate control measures are being taken. New York already has systems in place to track and report other communicable diseases and hospital acquired infections and is in a good position to add CRE to that process. By adopting this legislation, New York will join the six other states requiring medical facilities to report incidences of CRE. By doing so, we can halt the spread of this potentially deadly bacteria.

Legislative history

S.4414 of 2014.

Fiscal implications

None.

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.