Disinfection News and Research

RSS

GSMA: Updated statement on novel coronavirus

The GSMA continues to monitor and assess the potential impact of the Coronavirus on its MWC20 events held annually in Barcelona, Shanghai and Los Angeles and as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional conferences.

5 Feb 2020

Study identifies previously unknown toxic by-products potentially present in drinking water

Researchers at John Hopkins University have found that the most common method for disinfecting water can generate toxic by-products.

29 Jan 2020

Bladder cancer linked to drinking water chemicals in Europe

Over 6,500 new cases of bladder cancer in Europe are caused by exposure to chemicals called trihalomethanes (THM) found in drinking water. This number adds up to almost 5% of all bladder cancers in the continent. The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in January 2020, is a pioneering attempt to establish the levels of these chemicals in tap water supplied in 26 countries in the European Union.

15 Jan 2020

Experts say source of newly identified virus in China must be found

Scientists have identified the virus likely to have caused a pneumonia-like illness that has caused an outbreak in Wuhan, China.

9 Jan 2020

Mystery virus infecting dozens in central China prompts fears of new epidemic

China announced that an unknown form of viral pneumonia has broken out in Wuhan and has so far infected almost 60 people.

6 Jan 2020

Diarrhea in young children linked to La Niña climate conditions

A study in Botswana by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health scientists finds that spikes in cases of life-threatening diarrhea in young children are associated with La Niña climate conditions.

30 Dec 2019

Sanitization error might possibly have exposed hundreds to HIV at Indiana hospital

An Indiana hospital is in the news for all the wrong reasons. An accidental failure by one of the seven sterilization technicians working at the hospital was recently discovered. The technician failed to carry out a single step in a protocol concerning the sanitization of surgical equipment at Goshen Hospital, over a period from April 1 to September 30.

26 Nov 2019

Researchers turn to older treatment methods for new health challenges

The last thing anyone wants during a stay in the hospital is a hospital-acquired infection. Nosocomial infections, as they are called, are on the rise as more pathogens become resistant to drugs currently available.

21 Nov 2019

C. diff puts up a winning fight against hospital disinfectants

The deadly and notoriously stubborn superbug, Clostridioides difficile (C. diff), is putting up a winning fight against hospital-grade disinfectants meant to kill it, according to results of a new study published in the Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

6 Nov 2019

Contaminated tap water linked to more than 100,000 cancer cases in the US

Tap water contaminated with a toxic cocktail of chemical pollutants could be responsible for more than 100,000 cancer cases in the US over a lifetime.

19 Sep 2019

FDA recommends health care facilities to transition away from fixed endcap duodenoscope models

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is recommending that duodenoscope manufacturers and health care facilities transition to different types of duodenoscopes that may pose less risk to patient safety.

31 Aug 2019

Biosafety cabinet selection, installation, lifespan and decommissioning

NSF International published Annex E to Biosafety Cabinetry (BSC) Standard NSF/ANSI 49.

From NuAire 20 Aug 2019

Multiple breaches of injection safety practices identified in New Jersey septic arthritis outbreak

Multiple violations of injection safety and infection prevention practices--from lack of handwashing to inappropriate re-use of medication vials--were identified after an outbreak of septic arthritis at a New Jersey outpatient facility in 2017, according to an investigation published today in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, the journal for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

17 Jul 2019

Study analyzes high capacity of A. baumannii to persist on various surfaces

A group in the Department of Immunology, Microbiology and Parasitology at the UPV/EHU has conducted an in-depth study into the capacity to survive of the Acinetobacter baumannii bacterium as well as the strategies it uses to survive.

16 Jul 2019

Fight for Sight poll: Brits put their eyesight at risk through unsafe contact lens habits

Poll results released today by charity Fight for Sight highlight that many Brits are frequently putting their eyesight at risk through unsafe contact lens habits, unaware that these could lead to a painful and sight-threatening eye infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis.

10 Jul 2019

Swimming pools could be breeding grounds for diarrhea-causing germs

Summers get along best with swimming pools, spas and other water play regions. The Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) USA has warned that these pools could be the focal point of spread of certain bacteria, parasites and virsues.

1 Jul 2019

Researchers compare effectiveness of water treatment processes for swimming pools

With summer in full swing, many people are cooling off in swimming pools. However, some of the substances that are made when chlorine in the water reacts with compounds in human sweat, urine or dirt aren't so refreshing.

26 Jun 2019

Testing how well wastewater disinfection methods affect antibiotic resistance genes

Each year at least 2 million Americans are infected with bacteria that cannot be treated with antibiotics, and at least 23,000 of these people die, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

9 Apr 2019

Study: Non-thermal plasma can inactivate 99.9% of dangerous airborne viruses

Dangerous airborne viruses are rendered harmless on-the-fly when exposed to energetic, charged fragments of air molecules, University of Michigan researchers have shown.