Articles Tagged With: CDC
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The Greatest Fear Healthcare Workers Have Faced
It began with the first five cases reported by the CDC on June 5, 1981. What would become known as HIV/AIDS struck fear in HCWs possibly only rivaled by Ebola virus. HCWs worked at mortal risk, with some dying after needlesticks or other sharps injuries that exposed them to patient blood. What was essentially a terminal diagnosis became treatable when the first antiretrovirals were developed in 1995-1996. -
OSHA Publishes COVID-19 ETS with Tight Window on Comments
OSHA has published its Emergency Temporary Standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 as an interim final rule in the Federal Register, allowing only until July 21 to receive comments and feedback. -
OSHA’s COVID-19 Regulation: Better Late Than Never
OSHA's emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19 is drawing mixed reviews. There certainly is a broad appreciation of OSHA’s effort to protect healthcare workers, but the benefits of the ETS are somewhat mitigated by the fact that it comes 18 months into the pandemic. Many employees are now vaccinated. -
Has the Unmasked Person Beside You Been Immunized for COVID-19?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recent recommendation that those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can shed their masks and drop social distancing in many public situations was a bridge too far for some critics.
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40 years of HIV: From Fear and Stigma to Effective Treatment
A constantly mutating retrovirus that attacks the immune system directly, human immunodeficiency virus was isolated as the cause of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome in 1984. There was initial optimism that a vaccine would be forthcoming, but it was not to be.
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OSHA’s COVID-19 Reg Codifies CDC Guidelines
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers from COVID-19, putting regulatory teeth into recommended practices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Moderna, Pfizer Vaccines Showing Strong Protection in Healthcare Personnel
Preliminary results from an ongoing multisite case-control study of healthcare personnel in 25 states indicate the two mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are 94% effective in real-world conditions involving work and the community, the CDC reported. The study is underway at 33 sites, with 75% of enrolled healthcare workers employed at acute care hospitals. -
CDC ‘Masks Off’ for Vaccinated Draws Flak from Experts
The CDC’s recommendation the vaccinated public can shed their masks and not socially distance in many situations was condemned by some observers who said it will cause confusion, noncompliance, and a possible spike in cases. In wanting to convey a message of progress and optimism while rewarding and encouraging vaccination, the CDC seemed to some critics to be suggesting the pandemic was over, with images of people throwing masks in the air like new graduates circulating on social media. -
COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates for Healthcare Workers Have Begun
Houston Methodist Hospital is one of the first institutions in the nation to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for healthcare workers and other employees. Many see such mandates as the wave of the future, but others advise caution and patience to let staff make a willing choice about a controversial vaccine. -
NIOSH, FDA Cracking Down on N95s
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has revoked the public health emergency approval of an N95 respirator manufacturer after sample products failed filtering tests, according to a recent agency announcement.