Infectious Disease
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Infectious Disease Alert Updates
Immediate Improvement in Childhood Vaccination; A Better Mosquito Trap; Can FMT Restore Gut Flora and Eliminate Resistant Pathogens?
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Infections Associated With Adventure Travel
Some adventure travel is associated with exposure to infectious pathogens. Some adventure-related illnesses can be prevented. Understanding the details of an adventure trip can help focus a differential diagnosis for ill returned travelers.
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Autochthonous Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever in Europe
Two patients with Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever acquired in Spain are reported. The index patient acquired infection from a tick bite, and the second patient was a nurse who cared for the index patient. The first patient died in the hospital with multi-system organ failure and was diagnosed at autopsy. The second patient recovered with supportive care and was treated with ribavirin, but it was unclear whether the use of ribavirin was helpful.
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Microbiology of Hidradenitis Suppurativa: New Evidence That Anaerobes Predominate
Using metagenomic techniques, investigators determined that two Gram-negative anaerobes, Prevotella and Porphyromonas, predominate in hidradenitis suppurativa lesions. Two others, Fusobacterium and Parvimonas, correlate with disease severity.
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CDC Update of Notifiable Infectious Diseases
CDC has updated the available information regarding reportable infectious diseases in the United States.
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CDC Updating Measles Guidelines for HCWs
The CDC is preparing to review its guideline for measles and healthcare workers, as the once-eradicated childhood infection spreads in ongoing outbreaks in the U.S. and Europe.
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High-risk Patients, High-risk Infections
If there is a worst-case scenario in infection control, it likely involves a life-threatening infection spreading in a vulnerable patient population. They don’t get much more vulnerable than babies in a neonatal ICU, or adults undergoing bone marrow transplant. With their frail immune systems compromised, central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs) pose a serious threat warranting an immediate infection control response.
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Twin Peaks: A Persistent Norovirus Outbreak
A nasty, easily transmitted bug
that has ruined many a cruise vacation, norovirus can cause chaotic, labor-intensive outbreaks in hospitals. In that regard, an infection preventionists recently described a norovirus outbreak that kept reigniting in different locations in a situation somewhat akin to fighting a forest fire in high wind. -
Resistance to Change? Try Motivational Interviewing
How do you get someone to change behavior when simply telling them to do so is met with resistance — the “righting reaction” as APIC closing plenary speaker Sanjay Saint, MD, terms it. One approach is called “motivational interviewing,” which first demonstrated efficacy in the addiction field, said Saint, director of the University of Michigan Patient Safety Enhancement Program.
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Novel Approaches to Change Behavior and Protect Patients
Much of infection control work — a frustrating portion to many IPs — is trying to change human behavior. One need look no further than the historic struggle with hand hygiene and the various carrots and sticks that have been dangled and cracked in the name of compliance for decades.