While hospital ICUs have made significant strides in reducing central line associated blood stream infections, hemodialysis settings remain a dangerous area for patient care. Some 37,000 bloodstream infections occur each year among dialysis patients with central lines, posing a risk…
An “antibacterial envelope” product used with implantable heart devices reduced major infection rates by more than 90%, researchers and the product manufacturers report. It’s always advisable to infuse a bit of skepticism in reviewing claims and study findings by medical corporations,…
Due to issues in both diagnostics and surveillance, many hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections are going undiagnosed and untreated, with some progressing to mortality at a surprisingly young age, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports. “New infections continue…
It may be time to rethink policies that allow hospital employees to home-launder scub attire, as significant levels of bacteria can remain on the clothing even after washing, researchers have found. “Hospital scrubs that people took home and laundered almost had…
Some health care employers are failing to take even the most basic steps to protect against bloodborne pathogen exposures, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration is beginning to take notice. In 85 inspections last year of doctors’ offices,…
Health officials in the United Kingdom are urging parents to get their children vaccinated against measles, which is resurging due in no small measure to vaccine fears caused by since discredited research linking the measles/mumps/rubella (MMR) shot to autism. With a…
In light of the Tulsa dental debacle and ensuing patient questions and concerns, Noel Brandon Kelsch, RDHAP, of Moor Park CA, a registered dental hygienist in alternative practice and past president of the California Dental Hygienists’ Association, recommends the following…
The index case of hepatitis C virus (HCV) that triggered a massive testing effort of patients in a Tulsa, OK dental practice rife with infection control failings appears to be the first documented case of HCV infection via cross-transmission between…
I have been covering the field of infection control long enough to have learned never to underestimate the miracle that is the human immune system. That said, the patients of a Tulsa, OK, dental practice that are currently being tested…
Copper’s inherent antimicrobial properties could play an increasingly important role in reducing hospital infections, researchers are finding. Placement of copper objects in intensive care unit hospital rooms reduced the number of health care associated infections (HAIs) in patients by more…