Contamination News and Research

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Mid-stream urine collection system: an interview with Giovanna Forte, Managing Director, Forte Medical

The mid-stream (MSU) is urine from the bladder, which carries the information clinicians need to accurately identify and diagnose a UTI, or in the case of antenatal patients, make sure all is well.

22 May 2013

Scientists detect high levels of uranium contamination that increases cancers, birth defects in Iraq

Ten years after the Iraq war of 2003 a team of scientists based in Mosul, northern Iraq, have detected high levels of uranium contamination in soil samples at three sites in the province of Nineveh which, coupled with dramatically increasing rates of childhood cancers and birth defects at local hospitals, highlight the ongoing legacy of modern warfare to civilians in conflict zones.

21 May 2013

All sterile drug products from NuVision Pharmacy lack sterility assurance, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers of concerns about a lack of sterility assurance of all sterile drug products made and distributed by NuVision Pharmacy of Dallas, Texas.

20 May 2013

Food Defense Plan Builder: FDA's new tool to help food industry craft defense measures

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has released a new tool to help bolster the food industry's defense measures against an act of intentional food contamination.

14 May 2013

Juice products from Juices Incorporated have potential health risk, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers not to consume any juice products or other beverages from Juices Incorporated (aka Juices International and Juices Enterprises) of Brooklyn, N.Y.

13 May 2013

Products from The Compounding Shop lack sterility assurance, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers, hospital supply managers, and pharmacists that the FDA's preliminary findings of practices at The Compounding Shop of St. Petersburg, Fla., raise concerns about a lack of sterility assurance for sterile drugs produced at and distributed from this site.

9 May 2013

Cost-effective endoscopic system for urological procedures launched by Cook Medical

A new, cost-effective endoscopic option is now available to urologists. Physicians can use the Flexor® Vue™ Deflecting Endoscopic System during urological procedures to access and visualize body cavities or organs.

7 May 2013

Study identifies the vector that transmitted malaria from apes to humans

In 2010, a study revealed that the main agent of malaria in humans, called Plasmodium falciparum, arose from the gorilla. Today, the vector which transmitted the parasite from apes to humans has just been identified.

3 May 2013

Study reveals humans are passing antibiotic resistance to wildlife in protected areas

A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered that humans are passing antibiotic resistance to wildlife, especially in protected areas where numbers of humans are limited.

25 Apr 2013

Unnecessary use of antibiotics in elderly women in EDs increases risk of unintended consequences

Older adults represent an important and growing demographic in emergency departments across the country, with urinary tract infections being one of the leading causes for ED visits.

23 Apr 2013

FDA: Balanced Solutions voluntarily recalls sterile non-expireddrug products

Balanced Solutions Compounding Pharmacy, a division of Axium Healthcare Pharmacy, Inc., of Lake Mary, Fla., is voluntarily recalling all lots of its sterile non-expireddrug products due to a lack of sterility assurance and concerns with product quality controls.

23 Apr 2013

New technique developed at MU may make food contamination testing more rapid, accurate

Sales of chicken products in China plummeted recently during an outbreak of a deadly new strain of bird flu. From bird flu to mad cow disease, numerous food scares have made global headlines in recent years.

19 Apr 2013

AACN Practice Alert outlines evidence-based protocols related to bathing adult patients

The long-held tradition of using a basin, soap and water to bathe bed-bound hospitalized patients is no longer the recommended standard of practice, according to the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses.

19 Apr 2013

Drug products from ApotheCure, NuVision Pharmacy lack sterility assurance, FDA warns

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care providers, hospital supply managers, and pharmacists that sterile drug products made by ApotheCure, Inc. and sterile lyophilized (freeze dried powder) drug products made by NuVision Pharmacy were produced under conditions that could create a high potential for contamination.

16 Apr 2013

Pharmacological study shows interactions between drugs can be detected with minute doses

Clinical pharmacologists at Heidelberg University Hospital have achieved major progress for improving the reliability of drugs. In a pharmacological study, they showed for the first time that interactions between drugs can be detected with minute doses in the range of nanograms.

15 Apr 2013

Virginia Tech scientists provide new evidence that biofilms are at work in survival of Salmonella

Virginia Tech scientists have provided new evidence that biofilms - bacteria that adhere to surfaces and build protective coatings - are at work in the survival of the human pathogen Salmonella.

11 Apr 2013

Method used in aeronautics may help improve safety of plastic food packaging

To prevent molecules migrating from plastic packaging into the food they contain, scientists are identifying each critical point where this phenomenon can occur, using a method inspired from aeronautics.

11 Apr 2013

Study shows copper objects in ICUs reduce healthcare-acquired infections by 50%

Placement of copper objects in intensive care unit (ICU) hospital rooms reduced the number of healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs) in patients by more than half, according to a new study published in the May issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, in a special topic issue focused on the role of the environment in infection prevention.

10 Apr 2013

Hydrogen peroxide vapor eradicates multidrug-resistant organisms from unopened supplies

In rooms of patients with multidrug-resistant organisms, the outside of the packages containing sterile items can become contaminated.