News

For more than 25 years, the third week in October has been designated as National Infection Control Week -- a time dedicated to sharing and exploring new research, opportunities and design to support infection control across hospitals and long-term care facilities. In honor of this week, and in response to the growing need for streamlined, new-age hygiene practices and equipment, SCA conducted a global Hygiene Matters Survey to garner insights around the current and future view of healthcare hygiene processes.

The new direct-acting antivirals (DAA) are effective in curing the hepatitis C virus infection, a potentially fatal disease that attacks the liver, but they are expensive--approximately $60,000 per patient. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM), The Kirby Institute, UNSW Australia, and the Canadian Network on Hepatitis C (CanHepC) shows that nearly everywhere in Canada, provinces and territories impose obstacles to the reimbursement of these medications by the public system because of their cost.

Shorter wound healing time, fewer dressing changes and the opportunity for earlier discharge from the hospital. These are some of the benefits of negative pressure wound therapy to treat wound infections in connection with vascular surgery at the groin. The method, which has become increasingly common, is also cost-effective. This is shown in a thesis from Lund University in Sweden in which the method has undergone its first major scientific evaluation in deep perivascular groin infections after vascular surgery.

The Zika virus (ZIKV) is not a new contagion; researchers have known about the virus since the 1950s. However, not much was known about the virus until recent outbreaks cropped up with debilitating impacts.

People infected with Zika virus may not be susceptible to Zika virus again, according to the latest research involving Kansas State University's Biosecurity Research Institute.

Bolstering antimicrobial stewardship programs to ensure appropriate use of antibiotics in smaller community hospitals is necessary to combat the global threat of antibiotic-resistant bacteria known as superbugs, according to a new study from researchers at Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City.

A common bacterium that more than half of people have in their gut can use hydrogen gas present in the gastrointestinal tract to inject a cancer-causing toxin into otherwise healthy cells, according to a recently published study led by University of Georgia researchers.