Stop the outbreaks: CDC streaming program today on unsafe injection practices

January 12th, 2015

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will stream a Ground Rounds webcast Tuesday Nov. 13 at 1 p.m. on the continuing problem of injection safety.

Unsafe injection practices -- which typically involve reused needles, syringes and single-dose vials -- have resulted in recurrent outbreaks of hepatitis C and other bloodborne viruses as well as bacterial infections. In addition to threatening the lives of patients, these outbreaks place tremendous demands on health care systems by requiring laborious "look-back" investigations to warn potentially exposed patients. The outbreaks are preventable through renewed attention to infection control and injection safety practices, the CDC stresses.

The CDC Grand Rounds program includes the following speakers:

Joseph Perz, DrPH Team Leader, Ambulatory and Long Term Care Prevention and Response Branch, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "Injections without Infections: Basic Patient Safety"

Guthrie Birkhead, MD, MPH Deputy Commissioner, Office of Public Health New York State Department of Health "The Sharp End of the Needle: A Health Department’s Experiences"

Thomas Hamilton, MD Director, Survey and Certification Group Center for Clinical Standards and Quality Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

"Progress Made and Actions Needed to Increase Injection Safety"