Hospital Infection Control & Prevention
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No Treatment, No Vaccine: Infection Preventionists Must Hold Line Against Emerging 2019-nCoV
Rigorous adherence to infection control measures is critical as a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) continues to emerge globally, threatening to transmit in the community and hospitals in the absence of an effective treatment or a vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes.
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Healthcare Worker Attitudes About Respiratory Protection: It’s Complicated
In an unusual qualitative study, healthcare workers revealed a variety of attitudes about respiratory protection equipment, including motivations and suspicions that could improve or undermine compliance.
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Infectious Disease Update: Are You Looking for ESBLs?
Prevention strategies are necessary to limit transmission of multidrug-resistant organisms in the hospital, especially in high-risk settings. Identification of carriers of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing organisms via active surveillance, and contact isolation of positives, has been recommended for certain high-risk groups.
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Antibiotic-Resistant Infections in Pediatrics
There are some signs of progress in drug-resistant infections in pediatrics, suggesting that antibiotic stewardship efforts may be having an effect and fewer broad-spectrum agents are being used on this important patient group, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
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C. diff: Colonization and Consequences
Although once thought of almost exclusively as a hospital-acquired condition, Clostridioides difficile has established a presence in the community that means about 10% of incoming patients could be carrying it asymptomatically, a new study finds.
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Is It Safe to Speak Up? Infection Prevention and ‘Psychological Safety’
The majority of infection preventionists surveyed in a new study reported the lack of a strong “psychological safety” culture in their hospitals, meaning workers may be less likely to point out breaks in aseptic technique and other incidents that could undermine patient safety.
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Parents Can Pose Staph Risk to Babies in NICUs
The parents of babies in neonatal intensive care units can serve as a gateway for Staphylococcus aureus to colonize and potentially infect their newborns, researchers report in a recently published clinical trial.
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CDC: Fight Against AIDS at Key Inflection Point
CDC officials updated an ambitious plan to essentially end the AIDS epidemic in the United States in the next decade. While taking an overall national approach, the plan — part of a collaboration between the CDC and other federal agencies — would target specific geographic areas and at-risk populations.
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Mass Flu Vaccinations Serve as Emergency Drills
Infection preventionists may one day be faced with a pandemic flu or the release of a bioterrorism agent that calls for mass vaccinations or post-exposure prophylaxis of healthcare workers. One novel way to prepare now is to stage annual flu vaccinations as an emergency drill.
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Human Factors: Drug Stewardship in the Emergency Department
Broadly classified as ergonomics in much of the world, human factors engineering ultimately may lead to changes in practices and behaviors entrenched in healthcare that endanger patients with infections and other harms.