Hospital Medicine News

A national survey of ID fellowship program directors revealed that only about a third of programs have a dedicated infection prevention and control and health care epidemiology training track.

A 55-year-old man new to the area presents to the ED complaining of excruciating left flank pain that radiates into his scrotum. He noted blood in the urine this morning and became worried enough to seek emergency care.

California hospitals detected a high incidence of Clostridioides difficile infection among outpatients treated for diarrhea despite a low rate of testing, suggesting that outpatient C. difficile may be underdiagnosed, researchers said.

A new study identified several well-known hospital surfaces as potential sources of infection: bed rails, keyboards, rolling workstations and breakroom tables all harbored pathogenic bacteria, even after recommended cleaning.

Staying in a hospital room or bed previously occupied by someone with Clostridioides difficile nearly doubles a patient’s risk for hospital onset-C. difficile infection, researchers found.

More than one in five children on Medicaid are exposed to at least one major drug interaction annually, according to findings from a study published in Pediatrics.

A second tuberculosis outbreak linked to a viable bone allograft product contaminated with Mycobacterium tuberculosis resulted in five more cases and two deaths, according to the outbreak investigation.

Researchers found that risk factors of invasive fungal infections for lung transplant recipients receiving universal antifungal prophylaxis varied in terms of early and late infection and invasive mold- and candidiasis-type infections.

New guidance was published in 2023 for STD prevention, diabetic foot infections, infective endocarditis and more.

The FDA in 2023 approved treatments for several hospital-associated infections and fully approved a long-used COVID-19 medication, among other non-vaccine-related regulatory decisions.