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Computer keyboards may serve as reservoirs for serious nosocomial pathogens.
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Rapid antigen testing may serve as an early warning system in influenza surveillance.
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Influenza vaccination of healthy children is necessary to prevent the majority of influenza-associated pediatric morbidity and mortality.
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National patient safety legislation that would encourage the confidential reporting of medical errors is critically needed in todays health care system, urged Dennis OLeary, MD, president of the Joint Commission.
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Synopsis: A patient receiving the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) citalopram developed fatal serotonin syndrome after beginning therapy with linezolid for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection.
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A widespread salmonella outbreak that infected 101 health care workers, patients, and visitors at St. Louis Childrens Hospital may be linked to an asymptomatic worker or a common contaminated food, investigators tell Hospital Infection Control.
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Nosocomial outbreaks of scabies have occurred in a variety of health care settings, including intensive care units, rehabilitation centers, long-term care facilities, hospital wards, a dialysis unit, and a health care laundry, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations move to target infection control in surprise inspections next year could actually help ICPs in programs that lack administrative support, observers note.
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Editors note: The Joint Commission has posted pre-publication infection control (IC) standards for 2004 on its web site. After much discussion, the standards appear largely unchanged from 2003.