A Question for the IP: How is Your Facility Laundering its Linens Today?
August 25th 2016A couple of years ago, there was a report in the news that during 2008 and 2009 five children died at a Louisiana children’s hospital from an infection passed to them through their hospital linens. To follow up on this tragedy, a reporter wanted to know if there had been any changes made in how the hospital laundered its linens. The reporter posed this question to the hospital’s associate medical director of patient safety and quality. According to her account, the reporter asked the medical director who was the hospital’s current launderer. First, the medical director responded that he didn’t think it was pertinent, and then he said he didn’t know. And he said he didn’t know a second time when asked the same question at a subsequent news conference. Keep in mind: This is the hospital’s director of patient safety and quality.
New Strategy to Fight Mosquitoes in a More Efficient and Sustainable Way
August 25th 2016Mosquitoes continue to build resistance to existing pesticides. Research has now shown that the chemical substances emitted by one of the mosquito's natural enemies - the backswimmer - makes the biological pesticide Bti more deadly. These so-called predator cues also impair the mosquito's immune system. Scientists at KU Leuven (University of Leuven), Belgium, argue that a cocktail of biological pesticides and synthetic predator cues very well be the future of mosquito control.
Using Institutional Controls to Improve PPE Compliance
August 24th 2016According to 2014 occupational incident surveillance data from nearly 30 U.S. hospitals, when an employee experiences a splash or splatter of blood or body fluid (e.g. blood or bloody urine) into the eye they are only wearing eye-appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) 3.5 percent of the time. These mucotaneous exposures are extremely high risk. Just as the eyes are the windows to the soul, they are the frontlines for risk of disease transmission from patient to worker. If we experience fatigue, allergies, irritation, or infection our eyes become even more susceptible to microorganisms that come into contact with them.
Uncovering How Genetic Defects Cause Microcephaly May Help Zika Researchers
August 24th 2016In a very severe, genetic form of microcephaly, stem cells in the brain fail to divide, according to a new Columbia University Medical Center study that may provide important clues to understanding how the Zika virus affects the developing brain. The study was published August 24 in Nature Communications.
New Blood Spot Test Used Internationally in Fight Against HIV
August 23rd 2016Researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at CU Anschutz have developed a technique that estimates an HIV-negative patient's adherence to drugs prescribed to prevent HIV transmission during sex