One hospital has decided to take a new approach to fighting difficult-to-treat infections that can spread in health care environments.

Feature: Superbugs Or False Alarms?

Every child admitted to the Johns Hopkins Hospital's pediatric intensive care unit will soon be tested for what are called superbugs -- infections that cannot be stopped by common antibiotics.

In a news release, the hospital said the measures go beyond what is commonly done to fight methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus -- MRSA and VRE. Usually, tests are only done after symptoms such as rashes, fever or pain appear.

Screening is meant to prevent the spread of infection to others.

In a study of 330 patients that lasted four months, weekly testing found 54 percent of patients carrying potentially harmful MRSA bacteria. Standard testing after symptoms appeared missed 35 percent of the people carrying the bugs.

"The results were quite clear to us: Aggressive patient safety programs should consider testing on admission as standard practice," said hospital epidemiologist Dr. Trish Perl. However, she said that large-scale studies would be needed before making the practice standard around the nation.

The results were even more drastic for VRE.

Adults in Johns Hopkins' adult ICUs are already screened.