News

Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. announces today that it has received Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for Spectra VRE, a test designed to screen for vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE).

Healthcare-associated catheter-related bloodstream infections (HA-BSIs) remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S.

Media reports of outbreaks and infections caused by unsafe injection practices in healthcare facilities especially in outpatient settings seem to confirm the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) statistics that since 1999, more than 125,000 U.S. patients have received letters alerting them of potential exposure to infection with hepatitis viruses or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) due to unsafe injection practices such as the reuse of syringes.

ICT turned to members of industry to determine what they believe is the single most important thing that clinicians can do to prevent needlesticks, sharps injuries and other percutaneous injuries. They also share how their technology helps prevent these types of injuries.

Dynavax Technologies Corporation reports that enrollment and the first immunizations of 39 subjects enrolled in its Phase 1 study of the company's universal flu vaccine have been completed.

Researchers have found that an enzyme in the bacteria that causes cholera uses a previously unknown mechanism in providing the bacteria with energy.

As bed turn rates decline, the summer months give environmental service departments time to recharge and prepare for the next flu season.

Pharmacy OneSource announces a complimentary Webinar, "New Research on Preventing Hospital Infection," presented by Betsy McCaughey, PhD.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) is offering its Professional Development Webinar Series, "The Power of Influence," as two Webinars to be held in August.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announces that it has extended its deadline for participation in the 2010 MRSA Prevalence Survey until Sept. 1, 2010. APIC says that the data derived from the study will be used to help drive greater awareness of the need for infection prevention resources.

Patients transported via helicopter to a hospital from another healthcare facility are no more likely to test positive for the MRSA infection than those flown into the hospital from an accident site, home or other non-healthcare facility, according to a study conducted by Allegheny General Hospital (AGH) emergency personnel.

A revised clinical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), "Head Lice," published in the August print issue of Pediatrics (published online July 26), clarifies and updates protocols for diagnosis and treatment, and provides guidance for the management of children with head lice in the school setting.

An examination of hospital complication rates of bariatric surgery for more than 15,000 patients in Michigan finds that the frequency of serious complications is relatively low and is inversely associated with hospital and surgeon procedural volume, according to a study in the July 28 issue of JAMA.

A year-long beach study led by a team of University of Miami researchers suggests that swimmers at sub-tropical beaches face an increased risk of illness. The multi-disciplinary team examined the risk of illness that beachgoers face when exposed to recreational marine water at sub-tropical beaches with no known source of pollution or contamination.

With municipal water in the United States and across the globe requiring disinfection to eradicate microbes such as cryptosporidium and giardia, new analysis from research firm Frost & Sullivan indicates that the ultraviolet water and wastewater disinfection systems market earned revenues of $388.3 million in 2008, and estimates this to reach $629.8 million in 2015.

Dror Rosengarten, MD, of the Institute of Pulmonology at Hadassah-Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, and colleagues, reported on a cluster of pseudo-infections in patients in a bronchoscopy unit who had Burkholderia cepacia isolated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples

Smaller, rural hospitals may be quicker and more efficient at implementing surgical safety initiatives than their larger, urban counterparts, and are capable of providing a standard of surgical care that is at par with major hospitals that provide a comprehensive array of care services, according to an 18-month series of studies led by researchers from the University of Louisville Department of Surgery.

Items of personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gowns and gloves, as well as the unwashed hands of healthcare workers, are frequently contaminated with multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, which they say is more easily transmitted than previously thought.

Can aggressive isolation practices and contact precautions make a significant impact on infection rates?

Experts in the Cochrane Collaboration's Acute Respiratory Infections Group have reviewed all trial data in the medical literature, comparing vaccinated individuals with those who are unvaccinated.

An international team of researchers comparing recently-developed methods for diagnosing tuberculosis in children in resource-poor countries has concluded that the best test for high-risk children is the microscopic-observation drug-susceptibility (MODS) technique using two gastric aspirate specimens from each child tested.

Several cases of dengue fever, a potentially fatal viral disease transmitted by the bite of urban dwelling Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes, have recently been reported in the continental United States.

The mechanism by which a herpes virus invades cells has remained a mystery to scientists, but now research from Tufts University and the University of Pennsylvania reveals the unusual structure of a key member of the protein complex that allows a herpes virus to invade cells.

Institute for Healthcare Improvement adds oral care practice to its ventilator bundle.

Metal surfaces spur conversion of normal prion protein into disease-causing prions.

MedImmune announces that it has begun shipping FluMist® (Influenza Vaccine Live, Intranasal) to influenza vaccine distributors who service healthcare providers throughout the United States.

Electronic surveillance is becoming a critical tool in an infection preventionist's arsenal of tools with which to fight healthcare-acquired infections (HAIs). ICT presents the following case studies to highlight the benefits of using informatics in infection prevention and control efforts.

A review in JAMA of the new third edition of Practical Healthcare Epidemiology, edited by Ebbing Lautenbach, Keith F. Woeltje, and Preeti N. Malani (University of Chicago Press, 2010) notes that the field of healthcare epidemiology is undergoing a rapid evolution.

Sequella, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for treatment of infectious diseases, announces the publication of studies in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy on synergy between SQ109, its lead drug candidate for the treatment of TB, and TMC207, Tibotec lead TB drug candidate.