Featured Post

Warning as cases of respiratory disease Mycoplasma pneumonia rise in NSW

Image
which is more contagious bacterial or viral :: Article Creator The Surprising "Side-Effect" Of Some Vaccinations Source: Frank Merino / Pexels Have you gotten the shingles vaccination? What about the flu vax? If so, I have good news and more good news for you...And your brain. Of the many factors that contribute to healthy aging—exercise, diet, the gratitude attitude, and social connections, to name a few— the most surprising may be this one: Getting vaccinated. According to the latest research, getting vaccinated may contribute not only to your lifespan—the number of years you will live— but also to your healthspan—the amount of time you will live without major health problems, including cognitive decline. Lifespan Taking lifespan first, it's no secret that getting vaccinated contributes to a longer life for individuals who get them. Vaccinations have boosted average life expectancy for people around the globe. With v
- Post a Comment

Infection Prevention Practices, Frontline Education Led to Decrease in C difficile Infections - AJMC.com Managed Markets Network

A multifaceted approach focused on enforcing basic infection prevention practices and promoting education about Clostridioides difficile (C difficile) transmission led to a reduction in the number of infections in a hospital setting.

A series of interventions promoting frontline education about the transmission of Clostridioides difficile infections in hospital settings helped reduce cases of hospital-onset C difficile infections (HO-CDIs), according to a report published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Cases of transmission of C difficile are often attributed to contaminated environmental surfaces, equipment, and hands. Preventive practices proven to prevent organism transmission, like proper hand hygiene (HH), appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), and effective cleaning and low-level disinfection are effective in halting infection transmission. Although many health care facilities have policies stating these best preventive practices, staff, visitors, and patients are often unaware of them.

To promote education about these practices and reduce HO-CDIs and C difficile transmission, investigators from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, implemented a multifaceted approach involving a new laboratory testing policy, enhanced cleaning and disinfection of patient rooms, and antibiotic stewardship practices to reduce the use of high-risk antibiotics. The approach implemented educational practices for just-in-time staff, visitors, and patients and infection preventionist (IP) observations of HH and PPE, as well as monitored the use of appropriate isolation precautions.

All inpatients with an active C difficile infection were identified through positive tests, oral vancomycin reports, and line-listing techniques that made it so mitigation strategies can be implemented as early as possible to prevent transmission.

After a patient with CDI was identified, HH with soap and water and PPE compliance at their respective inpatient location were monitored. An infection prevention tracer also was completed, which examined mitigation protocol, including appropriate isolation order, visible posting of the contact precautions sign, PPE availability, proper use of PPE, HH compliance, and staff knowledge on C difficile policies for cleaning and low-level disinfection.

Education often happened simultaneously with observation to ensure timely feedback was provided to staff, the investigators noted. The IP met with the patient's unit and care team and had a brief conversation about caring for a patient with CDI, answering any questions about C difficile policies. Patients and visitors also received a CDC patient educational handout on C difficile, as well as a patient and visitor educational handout detailing preventive strategies they could take while at the facility.

After the implementation of C difficile transmission interventions, the investigators observed a 36% decrease in cases of HO-CDIs in fiscal year 2018 (49 C difficile events) compared with fiscal year 2017 (77 C difficile events). They also observed a 41% decrease in their respective HO-CDI standardized infection ratio, from 1.10 to 0.65—which was significantly lower than the national benchmark in 2 of the quarters in fiscal year 2018. Additional reductions were seen in fiscal year 2019 (43 C difficile events).

When implementing preventive measures against health care–associated infections like C difficile, the importance of basic infection prevention principles such as HH, isolation precautions, use of PPE, and cleaning should not be overlooked, the authors note.

Providing staff, visitors, and patients with frontline education and feedback about the transmission of C difficile is critical for prevention and management of the infectious disease in health care settings.

Reference

Read ME, Olson AJ, Calderwood MS. Front-line education by infection preventionists helps reduce Clostridioides difficile infections. Am J Infect Control. 2020;48(2):227-229. doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2019.08.002

-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts

Preventing, controlling spread of animal diseases focus of forum at Penn State - Pennsylvania State University

Image
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — An outbreak of the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in poultry in 2014-15 resulted in the destruction of more than 50 million chickens and turkeys in the U.S., causing billions of dollars in economic loss. This animal disease outbreak — the worst in U.S. history — is one example of how devastating a foreign animal disease can be to animal agriculture and the country's economy. The resurgence of avian influenza in multiple states, including Pennsylvania, is once again bringing the importance of preventing animal diseases to the forefront, noted Suresh Kuchipudi, clinical professor of microbiology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. Exploring the emergence, spread and control of animal infectious diseases such as avian influenza was the focus of the inaugural Emerging Animal Infectious Disease Conference held Nov. 29-Dec.1, 2021, at Penn State. It was hosted by the College of Agricultural Sciences, the Pennsylvania Department of A
Read more

Model Monday's: Diana Moldovan

Image
dented can botulism :: Article Creator Three Canadians Sickened In France's Botulism Outbreak Are From Quebec: PHAC The Public Health Agency of Canada has confirmed that the three Canadians who fell ill in a botulism outbreak in France are from Quebec. They're among at least 12 people who have suspected botulism after eating sardines prepared and served at Tchin Tchin Wine Bar in Bordeaux, France. The food was eaten between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10. The Associated Press has reported that some patients have been released from hospital, but most of them are in intensive care or critical condition. Canada's public health agency says it cannot divulge the condition of the patients from Quebec because it is considered private health information. Other tourists from the U.S., Ireland, Germany and Spain were among those sickened. One patient, who was not from Canada, has died. France's public health agency is leading the investigation
Read more

“Live Coronavirus Map Used to Spread Malware - Krebs on Security” plus 1 more

Image
“Live Coronavirus Map Used to Spread Malware - Krebs on Security” plus 1 more Live Coronavirus Map Used to Spread Malware - Krebs on Security Posted: 12 Mar 2020 05:12 PM PDT Cybercriminals constantly latch on to news items that captivate the public's attention, but usually they do so by sensationalizing the topic or spreading misinformation about it. Recently, however, cybercrooks have started disseminating real-time, accurate information about global infection rates tied to the Coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic in a bid to infect computers with malicious software. A recent snapshot of the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus data map, available at coronavirus.jhu.edu. In one scheme, an interactive dashboard of Coronavirus infections and deaths produced by Johns Hopkins University is being used in malicious Web sites (and possibly spam emails) to spread password-stealing malware. Late last month, a member of several Russian language cybercr
Read more