The Infection Control Today® health care-acquired infections (HAIs) page presents updates on the latest techniques and strategies in the never-ending battle between infection preventionists and HAIs. Focusing on the latest in medical literature, we also present perspectives from the top infection preventionists and other medical experts in the country about how to put the growing knowledge of HAIs into use in the everyday world of infection prevention. Articles and videos often focus on methods to contain and control pathogens and multidrug-resistant organisms from spreading within the health care system.
September 18th 2023
In this Hot Topics in IPC, Saskia v. Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, CIC, FAPIC, discusses COVID-19 vaccines and boosters, Legionella infections from transplants, and hospital leadership.
September 5th 2023
Sepsis: Earlier Detection With New Clinical Surveillance Tool
September 30th 2022A sepsis diagnosis is expensive and deadly, and early detection and treatment are key to saving lives. However, sepsis is not always easy to diagnose early, so a new advanced analytics surveillance tool can increase the chances of an improved outcome.
Ultraviolet C Light Technology Debate: Are First and Second Generation Equal?
September 20th 2022With the debate swirling around the efficacy and safety of UV-C technology, an individual needs which generation the product is. Infection Control Today® continues its ongoing special reporting on UV-C technology.
Boots on the Ground, or These Boots Are Made for Walking? Some LTC Staff Choose the Latter
September 7th 2022Long-term care facilities were once normally happier places, but COVID-19 changed the individuals working and living there. PPEs, testing, overwork, underpayment, and too many isolations have chased health care workers away and forced the facilities' population to plummet. Can anything be done?
No Catheter. No CAUTI: Urine Management with External Catheters
September 5th 2022Prolonged catheter use is the number 1 risk factor for developing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). External urine collection devices are an alternative to indwelling catheters for managing urinary incontinence.
Ultrasound Transducer Disinfection: Better Guidelines/Recommendations Needed
September 1st 2022With the CDC, FDA, and Joint Commission all using different guidelines and recommendations for the types of disinfection acceptable for various ultrasound transducers, clinicians should follow manufacturers’ instructions, but a more unified answer is needed.
Ultrasound Transducers: Avoiding Gel Contamination and Using Proper Level Disinfection
August 31st 2022Having complete IV start kits or central line insertion kits to reduce gel type variability and, thus gel contamination and following AIUM and INS disinfection recommendations are 2 ways to prevent health care-acquired infections.
Infection Prevention Is Key in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
The smallest hospital patients need extra care to be protected from infectious disease. This article series examines the NICU from both a physician and infection preventionist perspective.
Contamination of Point-of-Care Ultrasound Transducers Alarms Key Clinician
August 11th 2022Using ultrasound transducers is often necessary in the emergency department, but too often the proper procedures to protect against health care associated infections are not followed, and clinicians are worried.
The Role of Health Care Laundry in Infection Prevention
July 21st 2022Environmental sources of pathogen organisms can sometimes be difficult to narrow down in a health care facility. One possible source of transmission is the laundry used, and not maintaining strict cleanliness attention can put both patients and workers at risk.
Terminal Cleaning, Including UV Sterilization, Effectiveness in Mitigating Pathogen Transmission
July 11th 2022For terminal cleans, investigators studied the effect of UV-C disinfection added to chlorine-based disinfectants on the likelihood of MDRO transmission from the source occupant to subsequently exposed occupants.