Infection Control Today Magazine - healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs), hospital infections, infection prevention and control, healthcare epidemiology, aseptic technique, environmental hygiene, hand hygiene, disinfection and sterilization, outbreak investigation, surveillance

FEATURES

Link Between Antibiotics and Biofilms

Researchers from USC and the Oak Crest Institute of Science have discovered the link between antibiotics and bacterial biofilm formation leading to ...read more

Fist Bump Beats Handshake

“Fist bumping” transmits significantly fewer bacteria than either handshaking or high-fiving, while still addressing the cultural ...read more

National Immunization Awareness Month 2014

Each year in August, National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) provides an opportunity to highlight the value of immunization across the lifespan. ...read more

Healthcare Reform

Infection prevention's role in quality improvement initiatives is becoming more of an imperative within the overall efforts by healthcare ...read more

Latest Headlines

Antibiotic Use Prevalent in Hospice Patients Despite Limited Evidence of its Value

New research suggests that use of antibiotics is still prevalent among terminal patients who have chosen hospice care as an end-of-life option, despite little evidence that the medications improve symptoms or quality of life, and sometimes may cause unwanted side effects. ...More
2 weeks ago Posted in News
Sierra Leone Samples Show Ebola Virus Circulating in West Africa Since 2006

Analysis of clinical samples from suspected Lassa fever cases in Sierra Leone showed that about two-thirds of the patients had been exposed to other emerging diseases, and nearly 9 percent tested positive for Ebola virus. The study, published in this month's edition of ...More
2 weeks ago Posted in News
Seven New Cases of MERS-CoV are Reported to WHO

From July 3 through July 10, 2014, the National IHR Focal Point for Saudi Arabia reported an additional seven laboratory-confirmed cases of infection with Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), and the death of a previously reported case. Details of the ...More
2 weeks ago Posted in News
Accelerating WHO Emergency Response to Ebola Outbreak: Contact Tracing

It was humid, muddy and raining when World Health Organization (WHO) staff approached a compound in heavily populated New Kru Town, outside Monrovia, Liberia to look for people who have had contact with people infected with Ebola. A WHO technical adviser from Rwanda, sent ...More
2 weeks ago Posted in News
Understanding Long-Term Care's Unique Challenges

With the U.S. healthcare reform mandate for increasing transparency and improved quality, the need for infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is becoming more critical than ever before for the more than 3 million Americans receiving geriatric ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in Articles
Pressure Ulcers: Tips for Treatment, Prevention

Stage III and IV pressure ulcers, which cause significant patient morbidity and generate substantial treatment costs, are among the hospital-acquired conditions considered to be preventable by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). These so-called "never" ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in Articles
CDC Releases Report on Recent Anthrax Incident, Highlights Steps to Improve Lab Quality and Safety

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report today that reviews the early June incident that involved the unintentional exposure of personnel to potentially viable anthrax at the CDC’s Roybal Campus. The report identifies factors found ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in News
Algorithms Provide Insight Into How Gut Microbiota Respond to Infection Over Time

Being sick due to an infection can make us feel lousy. But what must the ecosystem of bacteria, or microbiota, colonizing our guts be going through when hit with infection? A study from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) has utilized unique computational models to show how ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in News
'Expressive Therapy' Intervention Assists Women Living with HIV

New research from UC San Francisco shows that an "expressive therapy" group intervention conducted by The Medea Project helps women living with HIV disclose their health status and improves their social support, self-efficacy and the safety and quality of their ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in News
WHO Says People Most at Risk of HIV are Not Getting the Health Services They Need

Failure to provide adequate HIV services for key groups – men who have sex with men, people in prison, people who inject drugs, sex workers and transgender people – threatens global progress on the HIV response, warns the World Health Organization (WHO). These ...More
3 weeks ago Posted in News