Infection Control News and Research

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New toolkit aims to help U.S. hospitals spot deadly viral hemorrhagic fevers faster and safer

Researchers develop a laboratory toolkit to assist frontline healthcare facilities or the care of patients with suspected viral hemorrhagic fevers.

30 Oct 2024

Diagnostic toolkit aims to improve response to Marburg virus cases

Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) such as Marburg virus disease have been in the news recently, with more than 60 cases of Marburg confirmed in Rwanda.

26 Oct 2024

Floor swabbing offers new insights for COVID-19 monitoring

COVID-19 is here to stay. As restrictions and human testing have waned, new research is tackling the challenge of how we can monitor, predict, and prevent cases and outbreaks of COVID-19, especially among vulnerable groups like hospitalized patients.

22 Oct 2024

Assessing and addressing IP staffing needs in a pediatric setting

A new paper published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) describes efforts at a major children's hospital to assess and fulfill its staffing needs for infection prevention and control, highlighting the challenges of allocating sufficient resources to this important role.

17 Oct 2024

Pilot study shows impact of infection control staffing shortages on patient safety

Inadequate infection prevention and control staffing levels are associated with higher rates of healthcare-associated infections, according to a new study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control.

10 Oct 2024

New research highlights the impact of stigma on health equity

A new article published in Nature Reviews Disease Primers underscores the profound role that stigma can play in health care -- and how addressing stigma-related barriers can significantly improve health outcomes for individuals and communities around the world.

7 Oct 2024

Enhancing the adoption of pragmatic clinical trial results in healthcare systems

A new thought piece led by the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute with collaborators from Duke University and Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute highlights the challenges facing healthcare researchers and decision makers in the quest to improve population health in a constantly evolving healthcare landscape.

3 Oct 2024

Global fight against antimicrobial resistance sees surge in deaths among older adults

Comprehensive study estimates the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) burden from 1990 to 2021, identifying significant age and regional disparities. It highlights future AMR death projections and underscores the importance of prevention and new antibiotic development.

19 Sep 2024

Study shows effectiveness of colored disinfectant wipes

A new study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) reports a comparison of hospital room cleanliness using standard disinfectant wipes versus wipes with a color additive that allows users to see which surfaces have been sanitized. With the color additive, rooms were 69.2% cleaner and were able to be cleaned in slightly less time compared to cleaning with standard wipes. The study was performed at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn.

19 Sep 2024

Antibiotic resistance threatens millions of lives worldwide

More than 39 million people around the world could die from antibiotic-resistant infections over the next 25 years, according to a study published in The Lancet.

18 Sep 2024

Hospital discharges linked to higher MRSA risk for family members

Family members of patients recently discharged from the hospital may have a higher risk of getting an antibiotic-resistant infection, often called a superbug, even if the patient was not diagnosed with the same infection, suggesting hospitals play a role in the community spread of resistant bacteria, according to study in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

7 Aug 2024

Reducing inappropriate C. difficile testing with a diagnostic stewardship approach

A new study published today in the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) describes the outcome of a new approach to testing for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) guided by the principles of diagnostic stewardship.

27 Jun 2024

Study shows feasibility of paper-based patient-reported outcomes in integrative health and medicine

Led by a team of researchers at University Hospitals Connor Whole Health, a new study finds that collecting paper-based patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures of pain, anxiety, and stress is feasible – and that provider, operational, and clinical-level factors impact successful completion more so than patient factors.

25 Jun 2024

Quality Improvement Program for Missouri saves millions and enhances elder care

A researcher at the University of Missouri has developed a program that improves the quality of care and reduces avoidable hospitalizations in nursing homes -; saving Missouri nursing homes and Medicare millions of dollars and allowing Missouri nursing homes to invest more in retaining their most skilled staff members.

24 Jun 2024

Enhancing adoptive T-cell therapy with nanowire innovation

Adoptive T-cell therapy has revolutionized medicine. A patient's T-cells -; a type of white blood cell that is part of the body's immune system -; are extracted and modified in a lab and then infused back into the body, to seek and destroy infection, or cancer cells.

24 Jun 2024

Pandemic worsens depression in teenage boys, not girls

A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, found that girls and boys were affected differently by the pandemic.

21 May 2024

Nursing homes wield pandemic immunity laws to duck wrongful death suits

In early 2020, with reports of covid-19 outbreaks making dire headlines, Trever Schapers worried about her father's safety in a nursing home in Queens.

14 May 2024

WHO overturns dogma on airborne disease spread. The CDC might not act on it.

The World Health Organization has issued a report that transforms how the world understands respiratory infections like covid-19, influenza, and measles.

1 May 2024

Meta-analysis reveals drivers of antibiotic resistance in infants

A meta-analysis of genetic studies analyzing the microbiota (bacteria in the gut) of 1,275 infants from 10 countries finds that cesarean delivery and antibiotic use are driving the increase of antibiotic resistance genes load among infants, according to new research being presented at this year's ESCMID Global Congress (formerly ECCMID) in Barcelona, Spain (27-30 April).

24 Apr 2024

Global study reveals mismatch in COVID-19 treatment guidelines with WHO standards

Study assesses global discrepancies in COVID-19 management guidelines across WHO member states, revealing that many national guidelines do not fully align with WHO recommendations, especially in lower-resource countries.

23 Apr 2024