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The Infection Preventionist's Role in Construction and Renovation: Before, During and After

The infection preventionist’s involvement in construction and renovation projects goes far beyond daily rounding. It is crucial that IPs be involved prior to construction during the concept and planning phases, as well as after construction has completed, and prior to occupancy. It takes a multi-disciplinary team to ensure that construction and renovation projects will serve both form and function of the completed needs of the space. The IP brings an infection-related mitigation skill set that serves throughout the continuum of this process.

WHO Mobilizes 510,000 Doses of Oral Cholera Vaccine to Help Control Outbreak in Iraq

An estimated 250,000 displaced persons will be targeted during the oral cholera vaccine (OCV) campaign to help control cholera outbreak in Iraq. The World Health Organization (WHO) has mobilized 510,000 doses of OCV, and the two-dose campaign is part of a strategy to prevent cholera transmission in high-risk areas and avert a potentially large-scale cholera outbreak in the 62 camps for refugees and internally displaced people.

Scientists Demonstrate a Way to Reduce the Ability of Ebola Virus to Exit a Host Cell and Spread

The Ebola virus acts fast. The course of infection, from exposure to recovery, or death, can take as little as two weeks. That may not leave enough time for the immune system to mount an effective response. The goal of some antiviral therapies, therefore, is to buy more and give the immune system a leg up on the virus. A new study led by Bruce Freedman and Ronald Harty in the Department of Pathobiology of the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine demonstrates a way to do that, by reducing the ability of the virus to exit a host cell and spread. Their work showed that blocking a calcium-signaling pathway could inhibit not only the Ebola virus, but also Marburg, Lassa and Junin viruses, all sources of deadly infections.

Researchers' Discovery Could Be Key to Developing a Vaccine Against Toxoplasma

Toxoplasma gondii is a common parasite which causes the development of fatal encephalosis or pneumonia in immunodeficient patients under treatment of AIDS or cancer. Pregnant women who are infected may suffer a miscarriage or the newborn child may suffer from a congenital disease. Currently, a toxoplasma vaccine for humans is not available. Using experimental animals such as mice, basic research for developing an inactivated vaccine is underway.

Bacterial Hole Puncher Could be New Broad-Spectrum Antibiotic

Bacteria have many methods of adapting to resist antibiotics, but a new class of spiral polypeptides developed at the University of Illinois targets one thing no bacterium can live without: an outer membrane. The polypeptides, which are short protein chains, act as bacterial hole-punchers, perforating the bacterial membrane until the cell falls apart. The antimicrobial agents are dressed for their mission in a positively charged shell that lets them travel in body fluids, protected from interacting with other proteins, and also attracts them to bacterial membranes. Led by U. of I. materials science and engineering professor Jianjun Cheng, the researchers published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.