Healthcare Associated Infection HAI News and Research

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Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolls out automated disinfection robot

Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolled out the newest member of its environmental team last week, a five-foot, automated disinfection robot named Tru-D (Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection). Implementation of the mobile, high-tech disinfection device is part of a $2 million CDC grant awarded to Duke University for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI's).

7 May 2012

Strong link between HAIs and patient readmission after initial hospital stay

New research finds a strong link between healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and patient readmission after an initial hospital stay. The findings, published in the June 2012 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), suggest that reducing such infections could help reduce readmissions, considered to be a major driver of unnecessary healthcare spending and increased patient morbidity and mortality.

5 May 2012

New preoperative prepping kit to address surgical site infection risk

3M's Infection Prevention Division and Sage Products are working together to offer surgical staff and patients a new preoperative prepping kit to help address surgical site infection (SSI) risk within three main reservoirs of bacteria in the body: the nares, the oral cavity and the skin.

12 Apr 2012

Quest Diagnostics receives FDA clearance for Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct test

Quest Diagnostics, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510(k) clearance to its Simplexa C. difficile Universal Direct Test on the 3M Integrated Cycler.

From Quest Diagnostics 12 Apr 2012

USPTO issues patent to Inovio's SynCon H1N1 influenza vaccine

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted U.S. Patent No. 8,133,723, covering Inovio's SynCon universal vaccine related to H1N1 influenza.

26 Mar 2012

New data on how genes and age influence AD plaque deposition

When 225 researchers from around the world convened in Miami to exchange the latest on β amyloid positron emission tomography in January, there was a palpable sense of urgency. At the 6th Annual Human Amyloid Imaging (HAI) Conference, the possibility of approval, potentially within months, of the first amyloid-scanning compound for clinical use hung over the room.

1 Mar 2012

Nicotine can contribute to atherosclerosis

Cigarette smoke has long been considered the main risk factor for heart disease. But new research from Brown University in Providence, R.I., shows that nicotine itself, a component of cigarette smoke, can contribute to the disease process by changing cell structure in a way that promotes migration and invasion of the smooth muscle cells that line blood vessels.

24 Feb 2012

Foreign-born scientists to receive Vilcek Prize in Biomedical Science

The Vilcek Foundation is pleased to announce the winners of its annual Vilcek Prizes in Biomedical Science, honoring the contributions of foreign-born scientists.

16 Feb 2012

Banner Alzheimer's Institute presents results from Navidea AZD4694 study at 6th Annual HAI

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that the Banner Alzheimer's Institute, Phoenix, AZ, made two presentations of results from an AstraZeneca-sponsored study on the assessment of Navidea's late-stage radiopharmaceutical imaging candidate, AZD4694, at the 6th Annual Human Amyloid Imaging Meeting (HAI), in Miami, FL.

20 Jan 2012

Prevention practices for catheter-associated urinary tract infections lacking in most hospitals

Hospitals are working harder than ever to prevent hospital-acquired infections, but a nationwide survey shows few are aggressively combating the most common one - catheter-associated urinary tract infections.

9 Dec 2011

Microsoft, GE Healthcare plans to create joint venture

General Electric Company, through its healthcare IT business, and Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to create a joint venture aimed at helping healthcare organizations and professionals use real-time, system-wide intelligence to improve healthcare quality and the patient experience.

8 Dec 2011

Remote video auditing leads to better hospital hand hygiene compliance

Nearly one out of every 20 hospitalized patients each year will develop a hospital-acquired infection (HAI). Of those infected, it is estimated that 100,000 will die. The cost to the healthcare system is approximately $45 billion and rising.

29 Nov 2011

BD MAX MRSA Assay receives CE Mark approval

BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD, today announced that it obtained CE Marking for the BD MAX MRSA Assay to rapidly and accurately identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 24 Nov 2011

Inovio announces results from SynCon avian influenza vaccine Phase I study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which is advancing synthetic vaccines to fight cancers and infectious diseases, announced today that a single intradermal (ID) electroporation boost of its SynCon avian influenza vaccine generated HAI titers against six different, unmatched strains of H5N1 - a distinct new clinical achievement on the global research community's path to develop universal influenza vaccines.

18 Nov 2011

AHRQ awarded $34M in fiscal year 2011 to expand fight against HAIs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality announced that it has awarded $34 million in fiscal year 2011 for grants and contracts to hospitals, academic medical institutions, and health care research organizations to expand the fight against healthcare-associated infections.

5 Nov 2011

Thomson Reuters launches Infection Xpert solution

Thomson Reuters, a global provider of information for healthcare professionals, has launched Infection Xpert — a clinical intelligence dashboard that helps infection preventionists (IPs) manage and reduce hospital-acquired infections (HAIs), capture and submit mandated infection reporting metrics, and analyze hospital infection data to improve patient safety.

12 Oct 2011

Residential washing machines may not eliminate hospital-acquired bacteria

Residential washing machines may not always use hot enough water to eliminate dangerous bacteria like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Acinetobacter, a Gram-negative bacteria, from hospital uniforms, according to a study published in the November issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

4 Oct 2011

Cone Health uses Xenex room disinfection systems to reduce HAI rates and costs

Cone Health today announced a dramatic reduction in healthcare-acquired infection (HAIs) rates after implementing an infection prevention program which includes Xenex room disinfection systems.

25 Aug 2011

Research roundup: Restricting Medigap coverage; Hospital-acquired infections

Increases In Mortality, Length Of Stay, And Cost Associated With Hospital-Acquired Infections In Trauma Patients -- This study explores the clinical and economic burden of hospital-acquired infections, the most common complication in hospitalized patients, for trauma patients.

22 Jul 2011

RyMed's InVision-Plus Intraluminal Protection System effective against catheter-related bloodstream infections

Denise Macklin, BSN, RNC, representing the research team of Dr. Cynthia C. Chernecky Ph.D., RN, AOCN, FAAN, Dr. Jennifer Waller, Ph.D., both from Georgia Health Sciences University; and Dr. William Jarvis M.D., Jason & Jarvis Associates, exhibited a poster at the recent APIC 2011 (Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology) conference in Baltimore, titled "Clinical Comparisons of Split Septum, Positive and Negative Mechanical Valve Intravenous Connectors to an Intraluminal Protection Connector on Infection Rates."

11 Jul 2011