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Testing patients with just three risk factors upon hospital admission has potential to identify nearly three out of four asymptomatic carriers of C. difficile, according to a new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-difficile-screening-hospital-admission-potentially.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:37:14 EST news286547825 Patients who tested positive for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) took an average of 387 days following hospital discharge to be clear of the organism, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-superbug-cre-patients-year-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 27 Feb 2013 11:00:02 EST news281183944 There is general agreement among hospital infection preventionists (IPs) with respect to which practices have weak or strong evidence supporting their use to prevent healthcare-associated infection, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-infection-preventionists-safe.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:40:01 EST news278929756 Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) dropped by 52 percent when an alcohol-impregnated disinfection cap was used instead of standard scrubbing protocol, according to a new study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-disinfection-caps-clabsi-cases.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 03 Jan 2013 11:07:03 EST news276433612 Current hospital cleaning protocol may be inadequate to rid patient rooms of multidrug-resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter baumannii, according to a study in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-hospital-protocol-ineffective-baumannii.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 30 Nov 2012 10:45:43 EST news273494730 Hospital size matters when it comes to intensive care units (ICUs) adopting even the most routine prevention policies for catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI), according to a new study from researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing, published this month in the American Journal of Infection Control. The study found that large hospitals—those with more than 500 beds —had a 1.5 higher average rate of CAUTI than hospitals with 500 beds or less. Since larger hospitals, particularly teaching hospitals treat patients who are often sicker, the finding that their ICUs have higher incidences of CAUTI, while still a cause of concern, was not unanticipated. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-large-hospital-icus-catheter-associated-urinary.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 23 Oct 2012 13:00:01 EST news270214760 Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely from hospital to hospital, according to a new study by researchers at Columbia University School of Nursing and published in the October 2012 issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-wide-discrepancy-surveillance-infections-icus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:11:31 EST news269536282 Screening practices for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) in intensive care units (ICUs) vary widely from hospital to hospital, according to a new study published in the October issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-reveals-wide-discrepancy-multidrug-surveillance.html Health Fri, 28 Sep 2012 13:22:06 EST news268057228 Many U.S. schools are not prepared for bioterrorism attacks, outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases or pandemics, despite the recent 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic that resulted in more than 18,000 deaths worldwide, Saint Louis University researchers say. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-majority-schools-ready-pandemic.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:33:25 EST news267103919 (HealthDay)—Many U.S. schools are not prepared for another pandemic, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-schools-unprepared-pandemics.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 30 Aug 2012 10:50:01 EST news265540449 Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates (HAIs) and costs hospitals millions of additional dollars annually, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-nurse-staffing-burnout-linked-hospital.html Health Mon, 30 Jul 2012 09:58:37 EST news262861110 Treatment areas of ambulances fared well when tested for dangerous bacteria, according to a new study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. Approximately six percent of sites sampled in Chicago-area ambulances tested positive for Staphyloccocus aureus (S. aureus), a bacterium that can cause serious infections and can easily acquire resistance to potent antibiotics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-resistant-bacteria-chicago-area-ambulances.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:40:02 EST news252232044 Infection preventionists and healthcare epidemiologists play key roles in promoting effective antimicrobial stewardship in collaboration with other health professionals, according to a joint position paper published today by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) in their respective peer-review journals, the American Journal of Infection Control and Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-infection-groups-outline-antibiotics.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:44:51 EST news251376282 (HealthDay) -- Most California hospitals implement some policies to improve infection control for multidrug-resistant organisms (MDRO), primarily methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), but few policies are associated with lower MDRO rates, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-california-hospitals-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 17 Mar 2012 06:10:14 EST news251183404 Hospitals whose infection prevention and control programs are led by a director who is board certified in infection prevention and control have significantly lower rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections (BSI) than those that are not led by a certified professional, according to a new study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-infection-certification-mrsa.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 09 Mar 2012 10:59:01 EST news250513132 Norovirus, a pathogen that often causes food poisoning and gastroenteritis, was responsible for 18.2 percent of all infection outbreaks and 65 percent of ward closures in U.S. hospitals during a two-year period, according to a new study published in the February issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-01-norovirus-infection-outbreaks-hospitals.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 31 Jan 2012 11:30:50 EST news247231831 Only 21 percent of surveyed medical students could identify five true and two false indications of when and when not to wash their hands in the clinical setting, according to a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-medical-students.html Other Thu, 01 Dec 2011 12:31:15 EST news241964947 Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDR-AB) was found in the environment of 48 percent of the rooms of patients colonized or infected with the pathogen, according to a new study published in the November issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-acinetobacter-baumannii-infected-patient-rooms.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 01 Nov 2011 10:16:55 EST news239361405 More than 60 percent of hospital nurses' and doctors' uniforms tested positive for potentially dangerous bacteria, according to a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-doctors-nurses-hospital-uniforms-dangerous.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 31 Aug 2011 09:50:21 EST news234003000 Increased hand hygiene knowledge positively correlates with a decreased risk of transmitting infection among both healthcare workers (HCW) and elementary school children, according to two studies published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-hygiene-knowledge-infection-hospitals-elementary.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 04 Aug 2011 12:40:40 EST news231680148 A study from the microbiology lab at the Lifespan hospitals has found that some lab tests are much more accurate in identifying Clostridium difficile Toxin (C. diff) infection (CDI), which causes diarrhea. The findings indicate that a molecular method detects up to 50 percent more cases of C. diff than other methods. While molecular technology is more expensive, it allows for more cases to be identified and assists in patient safety efforts within the hospital in terms of preventing hospital-acquired C. diff infections. The study is published online the July issue of the Journal of Molecular Diagnostics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-07-equal-diff-hospital-labs.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 05 Jul 2011 11:34:43 EST news229084469 Cell phones used by patients and their visitors were twice as likely to contain potentially dangerous bacteria as those of healthcare workers (HCW), according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-dangerous-bacteria-cell-hospital-patients.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 31 May 2011 11:42:01 EST news226060901 Fifteen percent of U.S. nursing homes receive deficiency citations for infection control per year, according to a new study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of APIC - the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-infection-violations-percent-nursing-homes.html Health Tue, 03 May 2011 10:36:36 EST news223637781