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June 26, 2014
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Hospitals to pay big fines for infections, avoidable injuries
NPR
In 2012, one out of every eight patients nationally suffered a potentially avoidable complication
during a hospital stay, the government estimates. Even infections that are waning are not
decreasing fast enough to meet targets set by federal health officials. Meanwhile, new strains
of antibiotic-resistant bacteria are making infections much harder to cure. Dr. Clifford
McDonald, a senior adviser at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says
the worst performers "still have a lot of room to move in a positive direction."
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SHEA
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Research team tackles new superbugs with older antibiotics
HCP Live
Researchers at the University of Buffalo are hoping a familiar friend from the past will help them
battle some potential problems in the present and future. Thanks to a school record grant of $4.4
million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the scientists at the school will be looking at
ways polymyxin antibiotics can be used against superbugs.
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Functional changes accompanied microbial structural changes after fecal
microbiota transplant
Healio
Specific changes in gut microbiota structure after fecal microbiota transplant in patients with
recurrent Clostridium difficile infection were associated with functional changes in a recent study.
To determine the functional means by which fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) restores
colonization resistance in patients with C. difficile infection (CDI), researchers performed 16S
rRNA sequencing on pre- and post-FMT samples of 14 patients who had at least two recurrent
CDI, as well as samples from 10 donors for comparison.
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Be more vigilant with your vials
Outpatient Surgery
The infection risk posed by the misuse of medication vials is underestimated, says the Joint
Commission in its latest Sentinel Event Alert, which casts a spotlight on the issue of injection
safety. In its recent alert, the Joint Commission counts at least 49 outbreaks of bloodborne
viruses and bacterial infections since 2001 that have been linked to the mishandling of single-use
and multiple-dose vials.
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Multiple protocol breaches behind anthrax exposure at US federal labs
Reuters via Medscape (login required)
The safety breach at a government lab that may have exposed 84 workers to live anthrax
centered on a pivotal lapse in procedure: Researchers working with the bacteria waited 24 hours
to be sure they had killed the pathogens, half the time required by a new scientific protocol. The
lab designed to handle extremely dangerous pathogens at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta unknowingly sent live samples of anthrax to labs with fewer safeguards,
where the exposure occurred.
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Many ER patients test positive for HIV while in most infectious stage
Infection Control Today
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening for emergency patients at an institution with a
large number of ethnic minority, under-insured and uninsured people reveals few are HIV
positive, but of those who are, nearly one-quarter are in the acute phase and more than onequarter have infections that have already advanced to Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
(AIDS). The results of the study were reported online in Annals of Emergency Medicine
("Identification of Acute HIV Infection Using Fourth Generation Testing in an Opt-Out Emergency
Department Screening Program").
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National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation says current care for flesh-eating
disease is inadequate
Infection Control Today
The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation (NNFF) announced a campaign to raise awareness
of the tragic inadequacy of the current standard of care for necrotizing fasciitis, or "flesh-eating"
infection — and to push for the adoption of new treatments for this deadly condition. "Too many
people are losing their lives or their limbs because the current standard of care simply doesn't
work," says Jacqueline Roemmele, executive director of the NNFF. "But there is a promising new
treatment that doctors can adopt."
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Development of quality indicators for antimicrobial treatment in adults with
sepsis
BMC Infectious Diseases
Outcomes in patients with sepsis are better if initial empirical antimicrobial use is appropriate.
Several studies have shown that adherence to guidelines dictating appropriate antimicrobial use
positively influences clinical outcome, shortens length of hospital stay and contributes to the
containment of antibiotic resistance.
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Your cellphone is covered with a personal bacterial cocktail
Healthline
In a small study, University of Oregon scientists tested the index fingers and thumbs of 17
subjects, along with the touchscreens of their smartphones. As you might expect, they found an
82 percent overlap between the most common types of bacteria found on participants’ fingers and
on their phones. Women tended to have more bacteria in common with their phones than men. Of
the more than 7,000 different types of bacteria the researchers identified, the most common were
in the Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, and Corynebacterium families.
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Black, Hispanic dialysis patients admitted more often for infections
Modern Healthcare
Black and Hispanic patients on dialysis for end-stage renal disease had markedly higher rates of
infection-related hospitalizations and were less likely to have visited a specialist for pre-treatment
care, a new study finds. Infection-related hospitalizations were about 20 percent higher for blacks
of all ages, and about 30 percent higher for older Hispanics, compared with white patients, said
study co-author Dr. Keith Norris of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
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Chikungunya virus may be headed for US
HealthDay News via WebMD
Health officials are reporting a rise in U.S. cases of the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus, though
they were quick to note that all of these infections have so far originated outside the United
States. "Thankfully, we have not seen any cases in the United States yet where the person got
the disease here," said Dr. Erin Staples, a medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases.
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Strategies to prevent Clostridium difficile infections in acute care hospitals
Medscape (login required)
Previously published guidelines are available that provide comprehensive recommendations for
detecting and preventing healthcare-associated infections. The intent of this document is to
highlight practical recommendations in a concise format designed to assist acute care hospitals in
implementing and prioritizing their Clostridium difficile infection prevention efforts.
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Researcher develops protector belt for patients receiving peritoneal dialysis
News-medical.net
A lack of comfortable products for the safety of the patient requiring peritoneal dialysis —
indicated to clean waste products from the blood when the kidneys fail — drove a student of the
Higher Technological Institute of Choapas, Veracruz in the east coast of México, to develop an
ergonomic support, allowing that the catheter inserted through the abdominal wall to remain in
place and be protected from the invasion of microorganisms.
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Lobbyists, hospitals oppose repeated efforts to pass infection reporting
laws
MLive
Michigan hospitals have stymied several attempts to pass laws that would require them to report
hospital-acquired infections. Since 2005, lawmakers have introduced four bills to force hospitals
to report infection data to the state. Another two bills would have created a commission to
recommend best practices on eliminating the infections. None ever made it to the governor’s
desk.
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