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Norovirus is the organism most likely to trigger a shutdown of units in your hospital. And according to a recent survey of infection preventionists, it is responsible for more outbreaks than some deadlier organisms, such as Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus aureus.
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In yet another sign that infection control is becoming a national priority across a wide range of accreditors, regulators and state and federal agencies, the Joint Commission has created a new web portal to combine its full array of initiatives to prevent health care associated infections (HAIs).
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In addition to calling for federal regulation requiring antimicrobial stewardship, a position paper by leading infectious disease groups recommended several other measures to preserve remaining antibiotic efficacy.
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The question of gown use when entering patient isolation rooms is a recurrent one, so it is worth noting that this is the current thinking of the Joint Commission on the subject:
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Researchers are finding a systemic problem involving the unnecessary use of IV fluoroquinolones in the acute care wards of hospitals. While the data came from 128 Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals, the research suggests this is a trend that all health care systems should address through antimicrobial stewardship programs.
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One hospital's survey experience suggests Joint Commission surveyors will remain highly interested in infection control even if your health care associated infection (HAI) rate is low.
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Researchers are finding that a specific spectrum of ultraviolet light kills drug-resistant bacteria and other problem pathogens on common environmental surfaces, including door handles and bedside tables and rails in hospital rooms.
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No specific infection control breach has been identified in the death earlier this year of a 25-year-old research laboratory associate at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.
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Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, an associate professor of surgery and health policy at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD is the author of the recently published book "Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won't Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care."
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In findings that may set a new standard of care in intensive care units, researchers demonstrated in a large-scale trial that a combination of daily chlorhexidine baths and a five-day regimen of nasal mupirocin reduced bloodstream infections (BSIs) for all pathogens by a staggering 44%.
