Healthcare Associated Infection HAI News and Research

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Many doctors, nurses working when sick with contagious infections

According to a new study, 4 in 10 health care professionals are turning up for work even when they are down with a contagious infection such as a flu. The study titled, “Working with influenza-like illness: Presenteeism among US health care personnel during the 2014-2015 influenza season”, was published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC).

2 Nov 2017

Healthcare professionals most likely to work while sick, study finds

A new study suggests that healthcare professionals (HCPs) should heed to their own advice: stay home when sick.

1 Nov 2017

Existing drugs may be able to improve therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia, mice study shows

Two drugs, already approved for safe use in people, may be able to improve therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a blood cancer that affects myeloid cells, according to results from a University of Iowa study in mice.

26 Sep 2017

Improving porter efficiency in hospitals using electric tugs

For many, porters are the oil in the machine of many NHS hospitals, moving goods, equipment, and patients around hospitals and proving a critical component in running clinical services smoothly.

25 Sep 2017

As care shifts from hospital to home, guarding against infection falls to families

Angela Cooper arrived home from work to discover her daughter’s temperature had spiked to 102 degrees — a sign that the teenager, who has cancer, had a potentially deadly bloodstream infection.

19 Sep 2017

Patient empowerment may be effective strategy to improve physicians’ hand hygiene adherence

Armed with new tools, patients and parents felt empowered to remind healthcare providers to perform hand hygiene, successfully improving compliance rates, but just over half of physicians felt that patients should be reminding providers, according to a new study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

17 Aug 2017

Researchers find clues to how chemotherapy drug fuels cancer spread from the breast to lungs

The very same treatment that thwarts breast cancer has a dark side – it can fuel the spread of the disease to the lungs.

8 Aug 2017

Robot emits UV light to destroy infection-causing bugs in hard-to-clean places

Hospitals around the world are looking for new and innovative ways to battle deadly pathogens and kill multidrug resistant organisms that can cause hospital-acquired infections, or HAI.

4 Aug 2017

Review looks at pets as therapy for human psychological distress

There are more than a few anecdotal references of the usefulness of pet therapy for several disease conditions. In a new review of literature, Molly Crossman, a Yale University doctoral candidate, looked at all the scientific evidence there was on pets used in therapy for psychological stress.

3 Jul 2017

Analysis identifies significant gaps in infection prevention practices in long-term care facilities

While nearly 400,000 residents of long-term care facilities die as a result of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), these facilities continue to lack the resources, including qualified personnel, necessary to implement adequate infection control programs, according to research presented at the 44th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology

14 Jun 2017

Obese people twice as likely to develop influenza despite getting flu shots

Although influenza vaccines are currently the best forms of protection to safeguard people against getting the flu, they are not effective in all cases.

6 Jun 2017

Foster launches Combat antimicrobial master batches for blending with medical device polymers

Foster Corporation, a leader in polymer solutions for healthcare markets, introduces Combat™ antimicrobial master batches for blending with medical device polymers.

2 Jun 2017

Handshake-free zone: keep those hands — and germs — to yourself in the hospital

Dr. Mark Sklansky, a self-described germaphobe, can't stop thinking about how quickly those little microbes can spread.

31 May 2017

High temperatures raise risk of serious surgical site infections

Surgical site infections, a common healthcare-associated infection, are seasonal - increasing in the summer and decreasing in the winter-according to new research published online today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

16 May 2017

Genetic study outlines path to personalize breast cancer risk assessment and treatment

Although the odds of developing breast cancer are nearly identical for black and white women, black women are 42 percent more likely to die from the disease. This mortality gap – driven by social and environmental, as well as biological factors – continues to persist.

4 May 2017

Scientists crack crystal structure of entire ZIKV NS5 protein

Zika virus (ZIKV), which causes Zika virus disease, is spread to people primarily through the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquito. An infected pregnant woman can pass ZIKV to her fetus during pregnancy or around the time of birth. Sex is yet another way for infected persons to transmit ZIKV to others.

27 Mar 2017

New study from Veterans Health Administration finds significant decline in MRSA HAI rates

The Department of Veterans Affairs' Veterans Health Administration's campaign to limit healthcare facility-associated infections (HAIs) of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to make significant progress, according to a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology .

6 Jan 2017

invendo medical receives CE Mark for world’s first sterile single-use colonoscope

invendo medical GmbH, a leading developer and distributor of sterile, single-use and robotically-assisted endoscopy products in the field of gastroenterology and GI surgery, today announced it has received CE Mark for the invendoscope™ SC200, the world’s first sterile, single-use colonoscope.

7 Dec 2016

Novel nanofiber coating shows potential to prevent bacterial infections of orthopaedic prostheses

In a proof-of-concept study with mice, scientists at The Johns Hopkins University show that a novel coating they made with antibiotic-releasing nanofibers has the potential to better prevent at least some serious bacterial infections related to total joint replacement surgery.

24 Oct 2016

MIT researchers develop imaging technique that provides unprecedented view of serotonin dynamics

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that's partly responsible for feelings of happiness and for mood regulation in humans.

21 Oct 2016