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Amid the generally depressing news about the national epidemic of Clostridium difficile there were hopeful reports of hospital collaboratives driving infection rates down.
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With the misuse and overuse of antibiotics driving drug resistance in general and emerging Clostridium difficile in particular, infection preventionists and health care epidemiologists want to have a greater role in antimicrobial stewardship programs.
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While the pressure grows to raise the rate of influenza vaccination of health care workers to 90%, an identical Healthy People 2020 goal for hepatitis B vaccination of health care workers remains quietly unmet.
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Dramatic progress in reducing several major health care associated infections (HAIs) in recent years has been offset by the unrelenting rise of Clostridium difficile, the spore-forming pathogen that can cling steadfast to hands even after washing with soap and water.
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A North Carolina hospital's program to restrict ciprofloxacin use in intensive care units was associated with a significant decreasing trend of Pseudomonas aeruginosa resistant isolates.
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David MZ, Medvedev S, Hohmann SF, et al. Increasing burden of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus hospitalizations at US Academic Medical Centers 2003-2008. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2012;33:782-9.
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The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) appears to be taking a step back from its recent emphasis on injection safety issues in ambulatory care and surgical settings (ASCs), though noting that some 3,200 inspections done in fiscal years 2010 and 2011 "found that deficient infection control practices are widespread in ASCs," according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
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This influenza immunization season may be one of the most challenging for the nation's hospitals as they face a new requirement to track every employee, licensed practitioner, student and volunteer.
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As the nation faces the largest outbreak of pertussis in 50 years, the rate of vaccination of health care workers languishes at about 20%.
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Conceding that the effectiveness of risk-based hepatitis C virus testing has plateaued, public health officials are rolling the dashboard dice to capture the grand-daddy of all birth cohorts: Baby Boomers.
