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On Dec. 18, 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, China notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of two new laboratory-confirmed cases of human infection with avian influenza A(H7N9) virus. The first patient is a 62-year-old man from Guangdong Province. He became ill on Dec. 11, 2013 and was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 16, 2013. He is currently in critical condition. He has a history of exposure to live poultry. The second patient is 38-year-old man from Guangdong Province. He became ill on Dec. 9, 2013 and was admitted to the hospital on Dec. 18, 2013. He is currently in critical condition. The Chinese government continues to take the following surveillance and control measures: strengthen surveillance and situation analysis; reinforce case management and treatment; conduct risk communication with the public and release information; strengthen international collaboration and communication; and conduct scientific studies.   Additionally an 80-year-old male reported earlier by the Centre for Health Protection (CHP), Hong Kong SAR, China died on Dec. 26, 2013. So far, there is no evidence of sustained human-to-human transmission. WHO does not advise special screening at points of entry with regard to this event, nor does it currently recommend any travel or trade restrictions. Source: WHO

One of the imperatives for infection preventionists in the new year is continuing to comprehend the myriad forces shaping healthcare right now, as well as implementing strategies that assist their institution leadership in meeting healthcare reform-related mandates. Driving much of the recent paradigm shift is the Affordable Care Act, which includes a series of Medicare reforms. The law also includes provisions that are designed to improve the quality of care, develop and promote new models of care delivery, appropriately price services, modernize the U.S. health system, and fight waste, fraud and abuse. Since the legislation was signed into law on March 23, 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began work to implement many of the key cost saving provisions that will add more than $575 billion over the next decade to the Medicare Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, according to the CMS Office of the Actuary (OAct).

In recent years there have been a number of studies indicating the importance of the role of the environment in infection acquisition; and transmission. Over the past decade, substantial scientific evidence has accumulated indicating that contamination of environmental surfaces in hospital rooms plays an important role in the transmission of several key healthcare-associated pathogens, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE), Clostridium difficile, Acinetobacter and norovirus.

Numerous scientific studies have concluded that two common bacteria that cause colds, ear infections, strep throat and more serious infections cannot live for long outside the human body. So conventional wisdom has long held that these bacteria won't linger on inanimate objects like furniture, dishes or toys. But University at Buffalo research published today in Infection and Immunity shows that Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes do persist on surfaces for far longer than has been appreciated. The findings suggest that additional precautions may be necessary to prevent infections, especially in settings such as schools, daycare centers and hospitals.