Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – December 1, 2007
December 1, 2007
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For whom the bug tolls: MRSA kills more people in U.S. annually than HIV/AIDS
The recent widely publicized finding that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus now kills more people annually than HIV/AIDS in the United States could result in a shift in public health priorities and funding as the true impact of MRSA in health care and the community comes to painful light. -
Invasive MRSA rises in the community
While the news that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) had eclipsed the annual death toll of HIV drew most of the attention, there was another disturbing finding in a recently published study that was largely overlooked: Nearly 14% of the invasive MRSA cases found were acquired in the community. -
Q&A: The perspective from the point of CA-MRSA spear
Q. Could you elaborate on your statement during your presentation that "in 15 years, all staph would be resistant?" -
Gram-negative bugs rising in resistance
While methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has grabbed recent national media attention and alarmed the public, there is a quiet but troubling trend of emerging resistance in lesser-known gram-negative bacteria, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently warned. -
HAIs: One family's tragedy told in agonizing detail
On Labor Day weekend 2006, our 27-year- old son Josh broke his femur and fractured his skull. -
Journal Review: C. diff, inflammatory bowel disease a deadly combo
The sample covered 994 hospitals in 37 states and included a total of 124,570 patients. -
Flu antiviral saves lives in some severe infections
In this prospectively identified cohort of patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza requiring hospital admission, treatment of adults with oseltamivir was associated with a clinically significant reduction in mortality within 15 days, the authors found. -
The Joint Commission Update for Infection Control: As flu season hits, remember new Joint Commission immunization standard for health care workers
As the 2007-2008 flu season strikes, infection control and employee health professionals are reminded that a new Joint Commission standard requiring accredited organizations to offer influenza vaccinations to staff now is in effect. -
The Joint Commission Update for Infection Control: Oncologists should offer flu shots to cancer patients
Despite a Joint Commission recommendation that cancer patients ages 50 years and older get seasonal flu shots, many are putting their lives at risk by not doing so. -
The Joint Commission Update for Infection Control: Joint Commission, CDC to study rapid flu test use
The Joint Commission recently announced that its Division of Quality Research and Measurement will study how rapid tests for influenza are implemented in outpatient medical settings including solo and group practice physician offices, community health centers, and acute care hospital emergency departments throughout the United States. -
2007 Salary Survey Results: Could CMS changes get hospital CEOs to open wallets ?
There have been several unintended consequences projected about recent pay-for-performance changes by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), but could one of them be an unexpected boon to infection control budgets? -
Reassurance a tough sell after fatal staph infections
In the aftermath of highly publicized cases of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) that claimed the lives of at least three school children and rattled parents nationwide, Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently sat before concerned members of Congress, urging calm and common sense against a "preventable" infection.