-
The seemingly benign use of a checklist to ensure infection control measures are followed during a clinical procedure erupted in controversy recently when a federal agency questioned whether one such program fell into the category of human research.
-
The Joint Commission has reiterated its standards require a clean hospital environment in light of comments and criticism at the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform's April 16th hearing on "Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs): A Preventable Epidemic."
-
The Joint Commission continues to emphasize the patient safety issue of medication administration, warning that children are at particular risk of harmful medication errors.
-
Once primarily a problem for large tertiary care hospitals, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections increasingly are a patient safety hazard in community settings.
-
If an influenza pandemic strikes, public health officials may not know enough about influenza transmission and respiratory protection to adequately protect health care workers.
-
Clostridium difficile which has caused a series of severe hospital outbreaks and unexplained community cases due in part to the emergence of a hypervirulent new epidemic strain (NAP1) is the subject of a landmark prevalence study.
-
In response to ongoing measles outbreaks due to imported cases, the Centers for Disease and Prevention issued an April 2, 2008, health advisory that includes the following key points:
-
Epidemiologists applying social networking theory in simulated disease transmission models are finding that a hospital may be able to target interventions to protect patients against flu and other diseases.
-
As the USA300 strain of community-acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) increasingly besieges hospitals and displaces traditional nosocomial strains the widely held perception is that patient outcomes are going to suffer.
-
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is actively investigating the issue of Clostridium difficile in retail meat, and for apparently the first time has published concerns about the issue as a possible cause for unexplained C. diff cases in the community.