Articles Tagged With: HAIs
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Next Pandemic: IPs, Drug Stewards Have Key Roles
Infection preventionists and antibiotic stewards struggled mightily during the height of the pandemic, largely overwhelmed like the rest of the healthcare system. No doubt they prevented some of the impact, but it was a losing effort and those results spoke to their importance as much as any success.
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The IP Role in Sepsis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued core elements for hospital sepsis programs, calling for a multidisciplinary team to prevent, detect, and treat these life-threatening systemic breakdowns.
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The Seeker: Infection Control Doctor Takes the Road Less Traveled
Meet Leighann Parkes, MD, FRCPC, medical officer for infection prevention and control at McGill University in Montreal, who took a decidedly circuitous route to understanding and preventing infections.
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APIC Calls on Congress to Act on LTC Infections
In a strongly worded letter to Congress, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology said action must be taken to protect frail residents of nursing homes.
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APIC Research Agenda Includes Race and HAIs
With the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic exposing widespread inequities and deep-set systemic racism in healthcare, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is planning research to address some of these critical issues, including one proposal to design a study to determine if patients of color or non-white ethnicity are at greater risk of acquiring healthcare-associated infections.
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APIC Asks Feds for Infection Prevention Reinforcements
The leading organization for infection preventionists is trying to elevate and solidify their role in healthcare after many were dislodged from traditional duties or otherwise overwhelmed during the pandemic. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has issued a call to action report, which describes IPs as key players in pandemics and emergency response, as well as the longstanding wall between vulnerable patients and healthcare infections.
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Healthcare-Associated Infections Increase Dramatically During Pandemic
Years of steady, incremental reductions in key healthcare-associated infections were lost in 2020 in the tsunami of the COVID-19 pandemic, as patients swamped hospitals and thinly staffed infection prevention departments.
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Antibiotic-Resistant Infections in Pediatrics
There are some signs of progress in drug-resistant infections in pediatrics, suggesting that antibiotic stewardship efforts may be having an effect and fewer broad-spectrum agents are being used on this important patient group, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
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CDC Atlas Tool Maps out Resistant Bug Threat
Trying to get a literal picture of the prevalence and geographic distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in the U.S., the CDC has created an electronic, interactive map that can be accessed on the Web or through a mobile app. The Antibiotic Resistance Patient Safety Atlas reports the percentage of various healthcare-associated infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
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Hospital-acquired Infections and Other Hospital-acquired Conditions — How Are We Doing?
There was a large decrease in the number of total hospital-acquired conditions from 2010-2014, but with no improvement from 2013-2014. While there were decreases in hospital-acquired infections, much further improvement is needed.