Infection Control News and Research

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Safe injection practices for improving safety to be discussed at the Joint Commission Infection Control Conference

Premier healthcare alliance’s Gina Pugliese, vice president of Premier’s Safety Institute, will share insights on safe injection practices to improve patient and worker safety at the Joint Commission Infection Control Conference on August 21 in Crystal City, Va.

21 Aug 2009

Norovirus controlled on cruise ship Marco Polo with vaporisation process by Activ8

The cruise ship Marco Polo, whose round-Britain cruise had to be cancelled because hundreds of passengers became ill with the vomiting bug Norovirus, has been totally disinfected by SitexOrbis' revolutionary infection control fogging service in just 5 hours at the Tilbury docks.

19 Aug 2009

MRSA may follow hospital patients home

Infection with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) appears relatively common among patients discharged from the hospital into home health care, according to a report in the August 10/24 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, about one-fifth of infected patients may transmit the organism to other people in their households.

10 Aug 2009

BD expands portfolio of tools to prevent and control infectious diseases

BD Diagnostics announced today the expansion of its portfolio of tools to prevent and control infectious diseases by adding software systems for the surveillance of infections and associated risk factors among patients and healthcare workers, and in the community.

6 Aug 2009

Researchers expose the biology of Clostridium difficile transmission in mice

New research suggests that antibiotic treatment could be asymptomatically inducing the transmission of the healthcare-acquired infection, C. difficile, contributing to the outbreaks that have recently been widely reported in hospitals and other settings. A team of scientists have successfully mirrored the infection cycle of C. difficile by generating a 'mouse hospital' with conditions mimicking the human environment in which C. difficile is transmitted.

20 Jul 2009

Prevention efforts have little success in reducing illness, cost

As health reform heats up, many lawmakers agree that the government should take a larger role in preventing disease. However, the Wall Street Journal reports that "many previous government prevention efforts aimed at costly chronic diseases have had little success in reducing illness or costs."

13 Jun 2009

Disease control expert urges health workers to clean hands and save lives

Australia's World Health Organization infectious disease expert and Director of Hand Hygiene Australia has urged all health professionals to improve infection control and save lives by adopting the new National Hand Hygiene Initiative.

9 Jun 2009

Hospital infection prevention resources cut

Hospitals are cutting staff, resources and education for infection prevention at a time when the prevalence of many healthcare-associated infections is increasing, according to a report released today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

9 Jun 2009

One in four nursing home residents carries Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major problem in nursing homes with one in four residents carrying the bacteria, a study by Queen's University Belfast and Antrim Area Hospital has found.

4 Jun 2009

Soap-sniffing sensors that monitor health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes

Call it a breathalyzer for the hands. Using sensors capable of detecting drugs in breath, new technology developed at University of Florida monitors health-care workers' hand hygiene by detecting sanitizer or soap fumes given off from their hands.

3 Jun 2009

Urgent need for stringent TB screening policies among South African healthcare workers

Healthcare workers in South Africa are at a significantly increased risk of developing drug-resistant tuberculosis, or XDR-TB, in a trend which threatens to further exacerbate the already beleaguered healthcare systems in sub-Saharan countries, according to results of a new study.

17 May 2009

Patient to patient transmission of hepatitis B virus:

Patient-to-patient transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) can occur as the result of routine clinical practices incorrectly thought to be risk-free.

8 Apr 2009

Doctors identify patients at high risk of Clostridium difficile

Doctors have developed and validated a clinical prediction rule for recurrent Clostridium difficile ( C. difficile ) infection that was simple, reliable and accurate, and can be used to identify high-risk patients most likely to benefit from measures to prevent recurrence.

1 Apr 2009

War wounded at risk for superbugs

Soldiers who survive severe injuries on battlefields such as those in Iraq and Afghanistan can be at risk from developing infections of their wounds with multidrug resistant bacteria.

30 Mar 2009

Scientists develop new agents to fight superbugs

Experts from Queen's University Belfast have developed new agents to fight MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections that are resistant to antibiotics.

24 Mar 2009

CDC analysis finds unique social and behavior intervention helps reduce MRSA rates up to 62 percent

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Plexus Institute (Plexus) today announce results from an analysis of a multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevention program that employed positive deviance (PD), a novel approach to social and behavioral change, to trigger significant reductions in MRSA incidence ranging from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals.

23 Mar 2009

Study shows effectiveness of new low-cost, green technology for monitoring hand hygiene compliance

Epidemiologists and computer scientists at the University of Iowa have collaborated to create a new low-cost, green technology for automatically tracking the use of hand hygiene dispensers before healthcare workers enter and after they exit patient rooms.

20 Mar 2009

Interventions helped reduce MRSA rates up to 62% in study hospitals

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the Plexus Institute (Plexus) has announced results from an analysis of a multifaceted methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) prevention program that employed positive deviance (PD), a novel approach to social and behavioral change, to trigger significant reductions in MRSA incidence ranging from 26 to 62 percent at participating hospitals.

20 Mar 2009

FDA issues warning on sharing insulin pens and cartridges

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an alert to health care professionals reminding them that single-patient insulin pens and insulin cartridges should not be used to administer medication to multiple patients due to the potential risk of transmitting blood-borne pathogens such as HIV and the hepatitis viruses.

19 Mar 2009

Review of hospital infection control strategies

Hand-washing, a clean environment, appropriate infection barriers and early identification of patients at high risk of colonization with a transmissible microorganism remain the essential measures to prevent and control infection.

16 Mar 2009