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In a neonatal intensive care unit in Arizona, five infants and ten health care providers were found to have pertussis during a two month period.
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Joint Commission Resources (JCR) has released a new, free guide to help hospital executives and physician leaders implement and sustain safe practices. Produced by the JCR Hospital Engagement Network (HEN), the guide is part of the federal Partnership for Patients initiative to improve the quality, safety and affordability of healthcare.
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As this issue went to press a second case of MERS was identified in Florida even as the Indiana case was being discharged in good condition. Here is what was known at press time.
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For the past 10 years, the United States has been wrestling with a resurgence of pertussis as outbreaks strike in different states. In 2013, cases subsided in most of Minnesota, but spiked in Texas and North Carolina, for example. California reported 2,372 cases, 132 hospitalizations and one death of a two-month-old.
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In a sample of New York City immigrants with dilated cardiomyopathy the point prevalence of infection with Trypanosoma cruzi was found to be 13%.
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With infections related to contaminated endoscopes a recurrent problem in health care, the Joint Commission and several other groups and associations are reiterating the importance of reprocessing procedures.
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A Cochrane review questions the value of osletamivir and zanamivir in the treatment of influenza virus infections – but the CDC and IDSA disagree.
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The World Health Organization recently reported two Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus infections in Qatar, with both men reporting exposure to camels.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services does not currently have regulations in place to require antibiotic stewardship programs in hospitals, but the fact that it expanded that section in the final version of its infection control survey suggests that is only a temporary situation.
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U.S. biocontainment facilities that have safely handled Ebola patients now are joined in their preparedness efforts by more than 30 hospitals newly designated as Ebola treatment centers.