News

Clorox Healthcare and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) announce a new partnership to educate the healthcare community on comprehensive infection control practices to help reduce the spread of infection in healthcare facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that drug-resistant bacteria cause two million illnesses and approximately 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Mathematical modeling included in its latest Vital Signs report shows that the spread of drug-resistant infections and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) will increase without immediate improvements in infection control and antibiotic prescribing. The report also states that if improved infection control practices and antibiotic stewardship efforts were adopted nationally, 619,000 infections and 37,000 deaths could be prevented over five years.

A deadly parasite that causes Chagas disease is widespread in a common Texas insect, according to a new study by University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) researchers. The finding suggests that the risk of Texans contracting the disease may be higher than previously thought.

Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, has issued the following statement: "The large influx of refugees and migrants to countries of the WHO European Region, which has escalated in the past few months, calls for an urgent response to their health needs. Actions are needed between and within countries as well as among sectors.

The National Institutes of Health are funding a Kansas State University research project that is looking at viruses that have the potential to be the next smallpox as well as an effective weapon against cancer.

Between Aug. 26 and Aug. 31, 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of 22 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including three deaths. Fifteen of these reported cases are associated with a MERS-CoV outbreak currently occurring in a hospital in Riyadh City.

Almost all human beings are exposed to the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, before their second birthdays. For most, the symptoms mimic those of the common cold: runny nose, coughing, sneezing, fever. But in some very young infants -- and some older adults -- the disease can be serious, causing respiratory problems that require hospitalization and increase the risk of developing asthma later in life. Even in the hospital, doctors can't do much more than offer supportive care. But, with a new study, researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and colleagues have identified a subset of viral products that are responsible for eliciting a strong immune response against RSV in people who become infected. These products, called immunostimulatory defective viral genomes, or DVGs, were once thought to have no biological function. Now they are being eyed as a gateway through which the immune system could be coaxed to mount a defense to clear the body of the virus.

When a patient arrives at a hospital with a serious infection, doctors have precious few minutes to make an accurate diagnosis and prescribe treatment accordingly. Doctors' ability to act quickly and correctly not only makes a difference to the patient's outcome, it determines whether the infection spreads to other patients in the clinic, and can even contribute to the development of drug-resistant bacteria.

There are two common approaches to protecting humans from infectious disease: Targeting pathogens and parasites with medicines like antibiotics, or dealing with the conditions that allow transmission. A paper published today in the journal Nature Scientific Reports demonstrates the effectiveness of a third strategy: Adjusting the landscape of the human body to remove the mechanism that allows pathogens to cause disease. The discovery is the result of serendipity and collaboration between high-level scientists in different fields.

The Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) recently held a roundtable discussion on the numerous challenges associated with sterile processing.