Every day in healthcare settings across the continuum of care, healthcare professionals are faced with obstacles that in many cases are caused by breakdowns in communication and collaboration, particularly across disciplines such as nursing, medicine, and environmental services. Due to the increasing complexities that exist across the continuum of care, it is more important than ever to have access to evidence-based tools and methodologies that can improve patient safety and clinical outcomes.
Nurse-trainer Helena Cumbelembe Inacio was struggling to teach nurses at the health center here the correct combination of medicines to prevent pregnant women with HIV from passing the infection to their children. The nurses couldn’t quite master the medication protocol. “The learning is slow, and they could not pronounce well the names of the antiretroviral drugs, let alone to remember the combination of the drugs,” Cumbelembe Inacio recalled.
In late August 2015, as Sierra Leone anxiously counted each day that passed with no new confirmed Ebola cases, a woman fell ill with fever, then diarrhea and vomiting in Sella Kafta village, Tonko Limba chiefdom, Kambia. Her family cared for her at home and, though her symptoms got worse, no one called the Ebola hotline. She was not tested for Ebola virus until after she died, when the Safe and Dignified Burial team were called to bury her and, following surveillance protocols, took a swab. That swab tested positive for Ebola virus disease, bitterly disappointing a country hoping to see an end of Ebola transmission and triggering a rapid response by the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners.
Between Sept. 1 and Sept. 5, 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of 25 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Ten of these reported cases are associated with a MERS-CoV outbreak currently occurring in a hospital in Riyadh City.
Clorox Healthcare and the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) announce a new partnership to educate the healthcare community on comprehensive infection control practices to help reduce the spread of infection in healthcare facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that drug-resistant bacteria cause two million illnesses and approximately 23,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Mathematical modeling included in its latest Vital Signs report shows that the spread of drug-resistant infections and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) will increase without immediate improvements in infection control and antibiotic prescribing. The report also states that if improved infection control practices and antibiotic stewardship efforts were adopted nationally, 619,000 infections and 37,000 deaths could be prevented over five years.
A deadly parasite that causes Chagas disease is widespread in a common Texas insect, according to a new study by University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) researchers. The finding suggests that the risk of Texans contracting the disease may be higher than previously thought.
Dr. Zsuzsanna Jakab, World Health Organization (WHO) regional director for Europe, has issued the following statement: "The large influx of refugees and migrants to countries of the WHO European Region, which has escalated in the past few months, calls for an urgent response to their health needs. Actions are needed between and within countries as well as among sectors.
The National Institutes of Health are funding a Kansas State University research project that is looking at viruses that have the potential to be the next smallpox as well as an effective weapon against cancer.
Between Aug. 26 and Aug. 31, 2015, the National IHR Focal Point for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia notified the World Health Organization (WHO) of 22 additional cases of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection, including three deaths. Fifteen of these reported cases are associated with a MERS-CoV outbreak currently occurring in a hospital in Riyadh City.