Health Care-Associated Infection

Insufficient infection prevention staffing can lead to higher rates of health care-associated infection, according to researchers who evaluated an online calculator that could help facilities meet staffing requirements.

A new forced-air system was more effective at drying and thus cleaning endoscopes than standard alcohol flush and air purge cycles, researchers found.

SAN ANTONIO — Natural language processing and other branches of AI are already being investigated for use in drug selection and diagnosis, and now researchers have found that AI may also help in infection prevention and surveillance.

The California Department of Public Health “strongly recommends” that as of next Monday, general acute care hospitals in the state begin weekly testing of all health care professionals for COVID-19.

Using a “possible” acute change in mental status criterion identified an additional 21 health care-associated infections among nursing home residents in 161 facilities, according to findings in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America is offering a free online course for health care providers on infection control practices, hand hygiene, pneumonia and personal protective equipment, or PPE, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A portion of ICU patients’ hands harbor pathogenic bacteria, including multidrug-resistant organisms, according to findings published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Officials from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services have issued a public health advisory following multiple reports of serious adverse events in patients who were treated with unapproved stem cell products, particularly those marketed as containing exosomes.

Health care-associated infections, or HAIs, related to the use of medical devices are more likely to be antibiotic resistant than those resulting from surgical procedures, with antimicrobial nonsusceptibility more common among adults than children, according to data from the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network.

Curtis J. Donskey, MD, and colleagues at the Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center had a novel idea to prevent some infections in their facility.