Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – December 1, 2019
December 1, 2019
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APIC Issues Call to Action Against Antivaccine Movement
The antivaccine movement is lobbying state legislatures to widen exemptions against childhood school immunizations and other mandates. As infection preventionists, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has taken on the fight.
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Antibiotic Stewardship: Glass Half Full or Nearly Empty?
Though there has been tremendous progress in antibiotic stewardship efforts over the last decade, a broad and demanding array of research and action is needed if the rise of drug-resistant bacterial infections is to be stemmed, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America reports in a new white paper.
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IPs Have Critical Role in Healthcare Worker Infection Guidelines
New guidelines by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to protect healthcare workers from infections call for infection preventionists to be key collaborators with occupational health departments.
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FDA Calls for Redesigned Scopes to Protect Patients
Conceding that conventional duodenoscopes cannot be reliably reprocessed between patients, the Food and Drug Administration is recommending that manufacturers and providers move to disposable components for the intricate devices.
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Kill the Bug, Hurt the Worker
Powerful cleaning and disinfectant products are being deployed in hospitals to eradicate dangerous pathogens on environmental surfaces. Both spore-forming Clostridioides difficile and an emerging fungal strain of Candida auris require strong sporicidals to be eradicated from the hospital environment. Yet the price of protecting the patient is being exacted on healthcare workers who may have serious complications after repeated exposure to these chemicals in disinfectants.