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Clinicians who send samples to the 95% of U.S. laboratories that test for Clostridium difficile infection using an enzyme-immunoassay (EIA) for toxins A and B are often frustrated by a negative laboratory result that doesn't fit their clinical impression or their olfactory suspicions.
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Acetaminophen (known as paracetamol outside the United States) is the most commonly used analgesic in the world, usually considered to be safe and benign.
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Infection preventionists appear to be on the rebound with the national economy, gradually regaining program resources and improved compensation as healthcare associated infections (HAIs) continue to draw unprecedented public attention and regulatory activity.
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The public is getting savvier by the day regarding what is expected in healthcare facilities from an infection prevention standpoint. It wasn't too long ago that communication with the general public was an uncommon occurrence.
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Central line-associated infections, particularly bloodstream infections (BSI), remain a huge issue in our technological age. Four academic medical centers were used to accumulate 165,963 central-line days associated with 241,518 patient days.
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In a lingering legacy of the H1N1 pandemic, stronger protections are now advised for seasonal influenza than was the case prior to the emergence of the novel H1N1 strain. That distinctive status was recently highlighted in new influenza guidance in California.
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Threatening to spread to North America after originating in hospitals in India, the pan-resistant New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM-1) enzyme has been linked to a fatal infection in Canada.
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The continuing global emergence of multidrug resistant gram negative pathogens bugs that are virtually impervious to all antibiotics and can transfer resistance mechanisms between species means infection prevention is more critical than ever during every patient encounter.
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Robert Rapp, PharmD, professor of pharmacy at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center, is an outspoken advocate for antibiotic stewardship to preserve the efficacy of our remaining antibiotics against rising drug resistance.