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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services does not currently have regulations in place to require antibiotic stewardship programs in hospitals, but the fact that it expanded that section in the final version of its infection control survey suggests that is only a temporary situation.
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U.S. biocontainment facilities that have safely handled Ebola patients now are joined in their preparedness efforts by more than 30 hospitals newly designated as Ebola treatment centers.
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Though the timing with the Ebola outbreak is purely coincidental, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has drafted an infectious disease standard that would mandate infection control measures to protect health care workers.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its long anticipated infection control survey for hospitals, telling its inspectors the requirements are effective immediately and can be used to issue citations in unannounced inspections.
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An H3N2 A influenza strain not covered in the current vaccine is circulating in the U.S. and threatens high risk groups with severe infections, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
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The immunogenicity of trivalent influenza vaccine is attenuated by the administration of A(H1N1)pdm09 4 months before, an effect partially overcome by the presence of an adjuvant in the former.
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In a single academic medical center, changing from a strategy of prior authorization to prospective audit with feedback led to significantly increased total antibiotic use and use of agents with a broad spectrum of gram-negative activity.
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Accidental laboratory exposure to Coccidioides species is the major cause of clinical laboratory-acquired fungal infection, and coccidiodomycosis is thought to be the least responsive deep mycosis to treatment.
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In a case-control study, older patients who received an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker along with co-trimoxazole had an increased risk of sudden death (unadjusted odds ratio 1.83, 95% confidence interval 1.50 to 2.24). Hyperkalemia is hypothesized to be the underlying mechanism.