Author – Dr. Anthony W. Chow, MD. University of British Columbia and Vancouver Hospital Sinus infections cause inflammation of both the sinuses and nasal cavity. The infections can sometimes last for weeks and can be very uncomfortable. They are quite common – in fact, nearly one in seven adults are diagnosed with a sinus infection [...]
Guest Author – Michelle Farber, RN, CIC Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) 2012 President If you asked healthcare professionals a decade ago to describe the role of the infection control practitioner, “hand washing cop” or “flu shot nurse” may have been the response. With changing reimbursement, quality measure incentives, and mandated [...]
Guest Author – Neil Fishman, M.D. Associate Chief Medical Officer for the University of Pennsylvania Health System, Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. I have noticed more conversations at hospitals, in the community, and even among policy makers about the importance of preserving our antibiotic supply in the setting [...]
Author – Clifford McDonald MD Prevention and Response Branch Chief CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Looking back now, it is like a movie playing out in my mind. We were at the 2004 IDSA conference in Boston, and my colleagues from the CDC lab, Dr. Dale Gerding’s laboratory, other scientific collaborators, and I were [...]
Author: Dan Pollock CDC, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Surveillance Branch Chief CMS announced today that its Hospital Compare website now includes central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) data reported from hospital ICUs to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). In many places, this is the first time consumers can see how well their local hospitals [...]
Guest Author – Bill Sleeper Georgia-Pacific Professional Each year, more than 200,000 people are hospitalized with the flu and 36,000 die from complications of the virus, according to the CDC. While it may seem like a mundane daily task, washing your hands is the single most effective way to prevent the spread of disease. As [...]
Author – Clifford McDonald MD Prevention and Response Branch Chief CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Transplanting feces from one human to another may sound repulsive, but for patients suffering from recurrent, debilitating diarrhea caused by Clostridium difficile, a fecal transplant offers a ray of hope. It increasingly appears that fecal transplants are effective in [...]
Authors Tara MacCannell, PhD [1], Ben Lopman, PhD [2] [1] Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [2] Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Winter is prime time for norovirus outbreaks. Norovirus strikes swiftly, causing acute gastroenteritis and usually involves rapid-onset diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Sometimes it [...]
Author – Michael R. Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD, FASHP President, Institute for Safe Medication Practices There’s an alarming and widespread misunderstanding about insulin pens by some healthcare workers who work in hospitals: that sterility can be maintained between patients simply by affixing a fresh needle on a previously used pen. Despite numerous warnings from the [...]
Author - Emily Skor Vice President, Communications and Alliance Development, Consumer Healthcare Products Association Nothing is more important for a parent than their children’s safety and well-being. As a mother of two young children, I know that we parents appreciate every reminder we can get as we juggle busy lives and balance many responsibilities. One [...]
