Infection Control Today Magazine

Respiratory Infections

Standard to Protect Against Infectious Airborne Diseases is First in the Nation

The nation’s first standard to safeguard workers from the spread of airborne diseases has been approved by California’s Office of Administrative Law and filed with the Secretary of State. With full support from labor and management stakeholders, on May 21 the ...More
July 8, 2009
Posted in News
Reduced-Dose Schedule for Pneumococcal Vaccine in Infants Shows Effectiveness

Infants who received two or three primary doses of the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7) both had a decreased rate of carrying pneumococcal microorganisms that can cause pneumonia and other infections, compared to infants who were not vaccinated, according to ...More
July 7, 2009
Posted in News
Researchers Advancing Vaccine Against Valley Fever

Medical mycologists at the South Texas Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases (STCEID) and the Department of Biology at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) have significantly advanced the fight against San Joaquin Valley Fever, a respiratory infection of humans, ...More
July 7, 2009
Posted in News
Measurements Fail to Identify TB Patients Who Could Benefit from Shorter Treatment Course

Tuberculosis (TB) is a difficult infection to treat and requires six months of multiple antibiotics to cure it. To combat the TB pandemic, a shorter and simpler drug treatment would be a huge advance since most TB occurs in resource-limited settings with poor public health ...More
June 30, 2009
Posted in News
Risk of TB from Arthritis Medication Examined

Treatment with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) agents is recognized as a risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, psoriatic arthritis and psoriasis. Most ...More
June 30, 2009
Posted in News
Scientists Solve Mystery About Why HIV Patients are More Susceptible to TB Infection

A team of Harvard scientists has taken an important first step toward the development of new treatments to help people with HIV battle Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection. In their report, appearing in the July 2009 print issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology they ...More
June 30, 2009
Posted in News
New Detector Promises Earlier Detection of Viral Infections

Biomedical engineer Rick Haselton, left, and chemist David Wright have developed an ultrasensitive new detector for respiratory viral infections. Photo by Steve Green, Vanderbilt University A Vanderbilt chemist and a biomedical engineer have teamed up to develop ...More
June 29, 2009
Posted in News, PPE & Standard Precautions
Improving Respiratory Protection Programs in Healthcare to Reduce and Control Infection

By Brent Doney, Mark Greskevitch, Dennis Groce, Girija Syamlal, Ki Moon B and Jacek Mazurek The risk of developing respiratory infection can be reduced by either wearing respiratory protection under the guidance of an effective respiratory protection program or using ...More
June 22, 2009
Posted in Articles, PPE & Standard Precautions
Fighting TB Might be a Matter of 'Flipping a Switch" in Immune Response

Scientists are focusing on a new concept in fighting airborne pathogens by manipulating what is called the “switching time,” the point at which a highly regulated immune response gives way to powerful cells that specialize in fighting a specific invading bug.In ...More
June 22, 2009
Posted in News
Preventing Spread of Infectious Diseases is Everyone's Responsibility

According to a report published today, we must all share responsibility for preventing the spread of diseases such as swine flu, SARS, avian influenza, diarrheal and skin diseases, and even the common cold. The swine flu scare has prompted some to say that we are ...More
June 16, 2009
Posted in News, Environmental Hygiene, Hand Hygiene, PPE & Standard Precautions