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Forget antibiotic-resistant pathogens and even bloodborne infections. If you want to strike fear in the heart of health care workers, mention scabies.
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In a finding that may foretell resurgence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), researchers in China have found that there may be two distinct strains behind the global SARS outbreak.
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Infection control professionals attempting to comply with accreditors and do a root-cause analysis of fatal nosocomial infections must set narrow patient definitions and work closely with their quality improvement colleagues if any meaningful prevention data are to come out of the controversial initiative, an ICP warned.
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Editors note: The Joint Commission has posted pre-publication infection control (IC) standards for 2004 on its web site. After much discussion, the standards appear largely unchanged from 2003.
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations move to target infection control in surprise inspections next year could actually help ICPs in programs that lack administrative support, observers note.
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Nosocomial outbreaks of scabies have occurred in a variety of health care settings, including intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, hospital wards, a dialysis unit, and a health care laundry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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A widespread salmonella outbreak that infected 101 health care workers, patients, and visitors at St. Louis Childrens Hospital may be linked to an asymptomatic worker or a common contaminated food, investigators tell Hospital Infection Control.
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Synopsis: A patient receiving the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram developed fatal serotonin syndrome after beginning therapy with linezolid for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection.
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National patient safety legislation that would encourage the confidential reporting of medical errors is critically needed in todays health care system, urged Dennis OLeary, MD, president of the Joint Commission.
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has sent out a sentinel alert to all accredited facilities calling for them to report fatal nosocomial infections. The request for data has raised concerns among infection control professionals, who argue that ascribing deaths to infections is a complex matter confounded by underlying illness and a host of other variables.
