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Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a serious medical condition associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Thirty-day mortality rates associated with CDI have been estimated to be anywhere from 6.0% to 32.5%, with higher mortality rates observed in older patients.
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Unless you were bent on becoming a forensic entomologist as a kid, there is nothing worse than pulling back a bed sheet and finding ... maggots. Every so many years, I find an ICU patient, typically sedated and intubated, with fly larvae crawling out of some orifice or wound.
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It took polymerase chain reaction at least 30 years (by my reckoning) to evolve from its inception as a promising method for laboratory detection of infectious agents in patient samples to its widespread utilization in diagnostic clinical microbiology laboratories.
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When a single imported case of measles led to a small outbreak in Tucson, AZ, in 2008, two hospitals were forced to spend a total of some $800,000 to contain it, much of that related to ensuring the immunity of employees.
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Having finally wrested a seat at the C-suite table, infection preventionists are now poised to move to the patient bedside. A profession that has labored in relative obscurity for much of its existence is at a critical juncture with a host of influential agents who are suddenly very interested in infection prevention: patients, consumer advocates, state and federal regulators. A path to empowerment has opened.
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With pathogens like Clostridium difficile and multidrug-resistant Acinebactor which can linger on surfaces and fomites for prolonged periods the health care environment is among the top priority research areas to prevent health care associated infections (HAIs).
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Katrina Crist, MBA, was recently named the new chief executive officer at the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology in Washington, DC.
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"Sand; tiny, discrete particles with substance but basically without fixed structure, frequently accumulating in forms of great beauty or built into 'castles.' In this elemental form sand, and data, present great danger, able to blind us or even bury us." Walter J Hierholzer, Jr., MD
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The American Medical Association convened the biannual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago in June with more than 500 delegates from a variety of societies and organizations.
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The National Medication Error Reporting Program (operated by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices [ISMP]) recently issued an alert on the potential risk of medication errors associated with dosing colistimethate for injection.