Personal Protective Equipment News and Research

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Coronavirus is mutating with a second strain identified by scientists

The coronavirus is mutating as scientists identified a second strain, which is more aggressive and contagious.

5 Mar 2020

Protective gear to fight coronavirus depleting, WHO warns

Amid the global health crisis of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that there is a shortage of protective gear, and this endangers healthcare workers.

4 Mar 2020

Using robotics in neuroendovascular procedures

Surgeons at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University are pioneering the use of robotics in neuroendovascular procedures, which are performed via the blood vessels of the neck and brain.

2 Mar 2020

The changing face of the COVID-19 epidemic

The SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) virus, which hit China with the disease now named COVID-19 in December 2019 and has since spread to over 70 countries, has caused over 90,000 cases, and 3,117 fatalities, with 95% or more of both being in China.

2 Mar 2020

First responders need to take special precautions to protect themselves from coronavirus

Healthcare personnel working on the front lines to contain and prevent the spread of the new coronavirus that originated in China need to take special, yet common, precautions to keep themselves and others safe.

3 Feb 2020

Coronavirus could spread explosively, tight control needed

The coronavirus may be taking a higher toll of life than we thought, say scientists, in a new study published on January 30, 2020, in The Lancet. But another startling new study based on mathematical modeling, published in the same journal, predicts that almost 76,000 people may have acquired the infection in Wuhan city, and that multiple epidemics in major connected cities inside and outside China may already be brewing. Yet the death rate is markedly low, in this case.

3 Feb 2020

Infectious disease expert explains about Wuhan coronavirus

A new coronavirus virus, likely first transmitted to people from animals at a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, is making international headlines as disease detectives work to uncover what it is, how it's transmitted, and how deadly the virus actually is.

24 Jan 2020

UMSOM researchers test new CDC recommendations to control nursing home infections

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than two million people are infected with antibiotic-resistant organisms, resulting in approximately 23,000 deaths annually.

3 Oct 2019

Deer can pass tuberculosis to humans, CDC warns

Tuberculosis or TB is a highly contagious infection that usually affects the lungs, but it can spread to other parts of the body, such as the spine and brain. Commonly caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which can spread through the air from person to person.

30 Sep 2019

Pesticide exposure on the job related to more strokes, heart attacks

A new study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, September 25, 2019, reports that the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is increased by 42% in Japanese-American men exposed to high levels of pesticide. This is the first time this outcome has been explored in this group, and indicates that the role played by occupational pesticide exposure in the pathogenesis of CVD needs to be examined.

25 Sep 2019

Pesticide exposure linked to increased risk of heart disease and stroke

On-the-job exposure to high levels of pesticides raised the risk of heart disease and stroke in a generally healthy group of Japanese American men in Hawaii, according to new research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, the open access journal of the American Heart Association.

25 Sep 2019

2019 ASTMH Annual Meeting to focus on Ebola, monkey malaria, and other infectious diseases

This year's meeting will kick off with keynotes from two public health heroes who have pioneered a home-based approach to fighting infant mortality in India that's now being adopted in 10 countries.

23 Sep 2019

Personal protective equipment shows potential to decrease injury probability of seafarers

The shipping industry is vital to the existence of the global trade economy, yet seafarers face one of the highest risks of workplace injury or death.

27 Aug 2019

Modern wildfires pose new health risks for firefighters

As California's wildfire season gets underway in earnest this month — with crews working to contain a 14,000-acre blaze in rugged Modoc County on the Oregon border — new research underscores the risks that modern wildfires pose to firefighters' long-term health.

6 Aug 2019

Appropriate doffing of personal protective equipment may reduce healthcare worker contamination

More than one-third of healthcare workers were contaminated with multi-drug resistant organisms after caring for patients colonized or infected with the bacteria, according to a study published today in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

21 Mar 2019

Protecting against ‘invisible threat’ that affects cancer care workers

Chemotherapy drugs are lifesaving to cancer patients, but these toxic drugs are hazardous to the health care workers who come into contact with them. Despite the risks, many health care workers do not use recommended personal protective equipment such as gloves or gowns when handling chemotherapy.

2 Mar 2019

Face masks may offer protection against staph bacteria for hog farm workers and their household members

Face masks appear to provide important protection against drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria for hog farm workers and for household members to whom they might otherwise transmit the bacteria, according to a study led by scientists at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

14 Dec 2018

Researchers explore home healthcare nurses' knowledge attitudes toward infection control

Home healthcare workers' beliefs about infection prevention influence whether they comply with prevention protocols more than their actual knowledge of how to comply, according to new research published in the American Journal of Infection Control, the journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.

14 Dec 2018

Safety protocol violations in health care: Researchers explore ways to avoid infection transmission

The medical community is losing its biggest gun in fighting infection, antibiotics. Researchers are turning to safety protocols to reduce the transmission of antibiotic-resistant organisms, like Clostridium difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and influenza. The health care environment, however, may be setting health care workers up for failure.

12 Jun 2018

Data from past epidemic could help improve response to future Ebola outbreaks

Data from the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak at two Sierra Leone facilities reveal daily usage rates for disinfectant and personal protective equipment, informing future outbreaks, according to a study published May 24, 2018 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Michaela Mallow of International Medical Corps in Los Angeles, CA, and colleagues.

25 May 2018