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After a spate of measles cases and outbreaks in 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is drafting a new recommendation that would tighten the criteria for measles immunity in health care workers.
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Such a confluence of events and unpredictable circumstances e.g, host factors, medical interventions can result in a health care-associated infection that, despite the best efforts of all involved, the patient suffers and the IP is left to ponder the "whys" and "what ifs."
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed a sweeping national "Action Plan to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections" that not only brings its considerable influence to bear on a longstanding problem, but also calls on hospital leadership, infection preventionists, clinicians, and even patients to help solve it.
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Infection preventionists well know that patients have become increasingly aware of the problem of health care-associated infections (HAIs), becoming prevention activists in their own right and putting increasing pressure on hospitals to address the issue. That pressure is about to increase exponentially.
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Emphasizing that 'health care-associated infections are one of the most preventable causes of leading mortality in the U.S," the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has developed a comprehensive national plan to fight HAIS. A five-point draft strategy was developed by HHS for the plan:
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In a case that recalls the national turmoil during the Florida HIV dental outbreak in the early 1990s, investigators have determined that HIV provider-to-patient infections remain exceedingly rare.
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Hospitals are stuck in a holding pattern in their sharps safety programs. Injury rates dropped dramatically after the implementation of safer sharps in 2001, but many facilities have since reached a plateau.
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The infection prevention community has lost a high-placed ally, as Julie Gerberding, MD, has stepped down as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the political changes of the new administration. A new director had not been named as this issue went to press.
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Most people in health care would agree that damage control is critical to the success of their productivity.
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Having cast a cold eye on hospitals, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will next develop plans to improve infection prevention in ambulatory settings and long-term care, Hospital Infection Control & Prevention has learned.
