Hospital Infection Control & Prevention
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C. auris: A Bad Bug With a Worst-Case Scenario
Imagine if a common healthcare-associated infection became impossible to treat. The nightmare scenario public health officials are contemplating is that an emerging strain of multidrug-resistant Candida auris will displace treatable strains of Candida, which are already a leading cause of bloodstream infections.
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Murderers’ Row: Resistant to Drugs, Threats to Humans
In a recently published report on antibiotic threats in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified pathogens as urgent, serious, concerning, or put them on a “watch list.”
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Antibiotic-Resistant Threats: CDC Report Cites Progress, Peril
A combination of public health, antibiotic stewardship, and infection control efforts over the last six years have managed to beat back the devil of multidrug-resistant bacteria. Yet all still hangs in the balance.
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Kill the Bug, Hurt the Worker
Powerful cleaning and disinfectant products are being deployed in hospitals to eradicate dangerous pathogens on environmental surfaces. Both spore-forming Clostridioides difficile and an emerging fungal strain of Candida auris require strong sporicidals to be eradicated from the hospital environment. Yet the price of protecting the patient is being exacted on healthcare workers who may have serious complications after repeated exposure to these chemicals in disinfectants.
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FDA Calls for Redesigned Scopes to Protect Patients
Conceding that conventional duodenoscopes cannot be reliably reprocessed between patients, the Food and Drug Administration is recommending that manufacturers and providers move to disposable components for the intricate devices.
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IPs Have Critical Role in Healthcare Worker Infection Guidelines
New guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect healthcare workers from infections call for infection preventionists to be key collaborators with occupational health departments.
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Antibiotic Stewardship: Glass Half Full or Nearly Empty?
Though there has been tremendous progress in antibiotic stewardship efforts over the last decade, a broad and demanding array of research and action is needed if the rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections is to be stemmed, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America reports in a new white paper.
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APIC Issues Call to Action Against Antivaccine Movement
The antivaccine movement is lobbying state legislatures to widen exemptions against childhood school immunizations and other mandates. As infection preventionists, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has taken on the fight.
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When Will the Next Emerging Infection Hit?
While infection preventionists get caught up in day-to-day concerns of a multifaceted job, there is always the threat of an emerging infection one plane ride away from virtually anywhere on the globe.
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Routine Drug Prophylaxis in Dentistry Usually Unnecessary, May Cause Patient Harm
With antibiotic stewardship now required in hospitals and increasingly normalized in other healthcare settings, dental offices are something out of an outlier.