Guest Author: Nancy C Caralla Founding Executive Director, President of the C Diff Foundation. My name is Nancy Caralla, and I know all too much about Clostridium difficile (C. diff). I am a nurse and contracted C. diff while caring for patients suffering from this horrible infection. Now, I am a C. diff survivor. Tragically, […]
Antibiotic resistance, the ability of bacteria to resist the effects of drugs, is perhaps the single most important infectious disease threat of our time. Although some people are at greater risk than others, no one can completely avoid the risk of antibiotic-resistant infections. These infections affect real people and they can be horrible for patients. […]
Guest Author: Aaron R. Ducoffe, MDUS Department of Health and Human Services In my first few weeks as a Health Policy and Quality Fellow, I immediately became intrigued with the CDC’s One & Only Campaign and its applicability to my former and upcoming planned specialties. I have learned in residency that a physician’s best and […]
Guest Author: Andrew Engel, MDInternational Spine Intervention Society The International Spine Intervention Society supports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s safe injection practices. As a strong proponent of using evidence-based medicine and safe injection practices, the International Spine Intervention Society agrees with the message espoused by CDC’s new Key Standards for Pain Clinics [PDF […]
CDC trains and assesses Ebola hospital readiness in collaborative effort An increasing number of U.S. hospitals are now equipped to treat patients with Ebola, giving nationwide health system Ebola readiness efforts a boost. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), state health officials have identified and designated 35 hospitals with Ebola treatment […]
Guest Author: Jennie L. Mayfield, BSN, MPH, CIC2014 President, Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) A retrospective study from The University of Texas College of Pharmacy published in the October issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), found that C. difficile infections (CDI) nearly doubled from 2001 to 2010 in […]
Guest Author: Ann L. Albright, PhD, RD Director, Division of Diabetes Translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Diabetes is a chronic condition that is a 24/7 responsibility for everyone who has it. Diligence is necessary to manage diabetes, since its highs and lows can strike while we are otherwise busy with life. It is […]
Guest Author: Steven Q. Simpson, MD University of Kansas and Sepsis Alliance What severe sepsis needs is the equivalent of an American Heart Association. An organization that exists to teach the general public, as well as physicians, how to save lives. Thanks, in large part, to the heart association, Americans are well versed in the […]
National Strategy to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria The announcement Thursday morning of the President’s Executive Order and the National Strategy to Combat Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria marks the administration’s response to one of the most urgent health threats facing us today – antibiotic resistance. Read more of the original post
Guest Author: Franchot Karl Sepsis. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s one of the leading causes of death, particularly in hospitals, but most people have never heard of it. My sister and I had barely heard of it, until we lost our beloved mother because of it two years ago. The brutality of sepsis will […]
Guest Author: Dana Mirman In December 2011, a lack of awareness of sepsis – a disease responsible for more American deaths each year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS combined – nearly cost me my life. It all began with a little bump on my shoulder one afternoon. When it all began, I did […]
Guest Author: Steven Q. Simpson, MD University of Kansas and Sepsis Alliance I am one of the newest members of the board of directors of Sepsis Alliance. If you haven’t heard of Sepsis Alliance, it is a non-profit organization whose aim is to heighten awareness of severe sepsis as an emergency among the general public […]
Guest Author: Orlaith Staunton Co-Founder of The Rory Staunton Foundation Our son Rory Staunton, 12 years old, died on Sunday, April 01, 2012 from undiagnosed sepsis. A few days earlier Rory fell playing basketball and scraped his arm. Rory began to feel ill just past midnight a day and a half after the fall. His […]
Guest Author: Wendy Kaler, MPH, CIC Dignity Health Clinical Lead for CAUTI Prevention At Dignity Health, our goal is to reduce the rate of hospital-acquired infections (HAI) by 40 percent and readmissions by 20 percent before 2015, and we are well on our way. We have introduced specific evidence-based practices and bedside intervention activities to […]
Guest Author – John O’Keefe, BDentSc, MDentSc, MBA Board Chairman, Organization for Safety, Asepsis and Prevention (OSAP) Because safe injection and sharps management practices are central to dentistry, the One & Only Campaign resonates strongly in the dental care sector. That is why the Organization for Safety Asepsis & Prevention (OSAP), the dental sector’s premier […]