Search Tag: Infections

2015 11 Feb

A Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)-led study has shown that a set of characteristics, including differences in gene expression, may indicate which patients recovering from severe burns are at greatest risk for repeat infections. The finding is published online in Annals of Surgery . "Our approach is the first to enable the prediction of repeat...Read more

2015 05 Feb

A retrospective cohort study has shown that the use of arterial catheters (ACs) is not associated with improvements in hospital mortality in intensive care unit ICU patients requiring mechanical ventilation. The finding is published online in JAMA . ACs are used in 40 percent of ICU patients, mostly to facilitate diagnostic phlebotomy, collect arterial...Read more

2015 21 Jan

A Vanderbilt University study, which appears in JAMA , shows that once daily chlorhexidine bathing of critically ill patients did not reduce the incidence of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Chlorhexidine is a broad-spectrum topical antimicrobial agent that, when used to bathe the skin, may decrease the bacterial burden, thereby reducing infections....Read more

2015 19 Jan

Based on results of a new study, high levels of two novel urinary biomarkers early in critical illness correlate with adverse long-term outcomes in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). The combination of tissue inhibitor metalloproteinase-2 (TIMP-2) and IGF-binding protein-7 (IGFBP7) can identify patients with AKI who are at greater risk of death...Read more

2014 16 Sep

A new study suggests a pioneering testing technology could reduce hospital stays by up to eight days and lower annual health care costs for people with serious infections by approximately  $2.2 million  (€1.5 million / £1.2 million).[1] The cost reductions are based on a health economic model from the RApid Diagnosis of Infections in the CriticAlly...Read more

2014 18 Aug

Infections in premature babies may be prevented when attending medical staff wear nonsterile gloves after washing their hands, compared with only hand washing, findings of a new study show. The study involved 120 extremely preterm babies in a neonatal ICU at a particular hospital. These infants were younger than eight days old and weighed less than...Read more

2014 17 Aug

According to a recent study published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, bacteria that cause life-threatening bloodstream infections in critically ill patients may be growing increasingly resistant to chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), a common hospital antiseptic. The use...Read more

2014 10 Jun

Bloodstream infections related to the use of central venous catheters (CVCs) are a significant cause of morbidity and mortality for patients in surgical intensive care units, where nearly half rely on a CVC for the administration of treatment. To reduce the incidence of catheter-related bloodstream infections, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement...Read more

2014 20 Mar

Comparing three treatment methods shows same survival rate According to a five-year clinical study named ProCESS, for Protocolised Care for Early Septic Shock, and published online on March 18, 2014, in the New England Journal of Medicine, the survival rate for patients with septic shock was the same regardless of whether they received treatment...Read more

2014 30 Jan

According to a new study, the largest of its kind, U.S. hospital intensive care units (ICUs) show uneven compliance with infection prevention policies. The findings are 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),...Read more

2013 15 Oct

Scientists of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin for the first time have solved the 3-dimensional structure of the protein LBP and it´s genetic variant. This finding may help certain patients to better survive severe infectious diseases. The results have been published in the recent issue of the journal Immunity *. This host protein mediates...Read more

2013 14 Oct

According to a new study co-led by the University of Maryland School of Medicine and the Yale New Haven Health System Center for Healthcare Solutions a simple procedural change can reduce patient acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by approximately 40 percent. Using disposable gowns and gloves on an intensive care unit...Read more

2013 03 Oct

In a first-of-its-kind study to evaluate the impact of a medical specialty on patient outcomes, researchers found that hospitalized patients with severe infections such as meningitis and Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) are significantly less likely to die if they receive care from an infectious diseases specialist. The study, which analyzed nearly...Read more

2013 03 Oct

In a recent study, two different strains of non-toxigenic Clostridium difficile provided protection against both historic and epidemic C. difficile strains. The research was conducted by researchers at Hines VA Hospital and is published ahead of print in the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy . Studies show colonization with a...Read more

2013 01 Oct

Plasma reactor: The RUB team generates atmospheric-pressure plasmas and tests which effects UV radiation and reactive particles have on bacterial cells and molecules. Copyright: RUB, Photo: Jan-Wilm Lackmann As they destroy bacteria very efficiently, plasmas constitute an alternative to chemical disinfectants and potentially to antibiotics,...Read more

2013 04 Sep

The largest study of its kind, carried out by experts at the University of Leeds, has shown the most effective test for the diagnosis of Clostridium difficile (C-Diff). C-Diff is a bacterial infection which causes 3,000 deaths a year in Britain. It affects the digestive system, and is most common in hospital patients treated with antibiotics for...Read more

2013 14 Aug

The fight against antibiotic-resistant superbugs has taken a step forward thanks to a new discovery by scientists at The University of Nottingham. A multi-disciplinary research team at the University’s Centre for Biomolecular Sciences has uncovered a new way of inhibiting the toxicity and virulence of the notorious superbug, Pseudomonas aeruginosa...Read more

2013 01 Aug

A moderate increase in vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) at one hospital can lead to a nearly 3 percent increase in VRE in every other hospital in that county, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control , the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology...Read more

2013 23 Jul

Xenex Healthcare Services, the world leader in pulsed xenon UV room disinfection systems for healthcare facilities, announced on July 22, 2013, it changed its name to Xenex Disinfection Services. “We changed the company name to better describe our product offering and company strategy,” said Morris Miller, CEO of Xenex. “The most important step in...Read more

2013 18 Jul

Kansas State University researchers are defeating persistent bacteria known for causing infections in hospitals. The bacteria, Enterococcus faecalis, are the second-leading cause of hospital-associated infections in the U.S., said Lynn Hancock , associate professor of biology and leader of the research. His team has discovered how a regulatory...Read more

2013 09 Jul

The influenza virus’ ability to mutate quickly has produced new, emerging strains that make drug discovery more critical than ever. For the first time, researchers at Seattle BioMed, along with collaborators at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the University of Washington, have...Read more

2013 26 Jun

Germ-fighting robots that pulse UV light are used by Loyola University Health System to fight infectious disease. Hospitals are synonymous with cleanliness and now Loyola University Health System is the first academic medical center in Illinois to take disinfection to futuristic levels. Nicknamed “Ralph” by the housekeeping staff at Gottlieb...Read more

2013 26 Jun

Hospitals across England reduced the rate of serious bloodstream infections in intensive care units (ICUs) during a two-year programme, research has shown. More than 200 ICUs in England participated in the National Patient Safety Agency’s Matching Michigan programme, which aimed to bring down infections linked to central venous catheters to...Read more

2013 18 Jun

A team from the University of Toronto – including researchers from Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering – has created an electronic chip that can analyze blood and other clinical samples for infectious bacteria with record-breaking speed. Life-threatening bacterial infections...Read more

2013 14 Jun

Staph infections in hospitals are a serious concern, so much so that the term Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is as commonly known as MRI. Far less known is that in many of these cases, patients are infecting themselves. In heart surgeries and knee and joint-replacement procedures, up to 85 percent of staph infections after...Read more

2013 14 Jun

HN is the first healthcare entity in northern Illinois to utilize a Xenex robot to disinfect patient rooms, operating rooms and other areas. Requiring only 5-10 minutes to disinfect a room, the Xenex system is the fastest, safest, and most effective method for the advanced cleaning of hospital rooms, scientifically proven to destroy all major classes...Read more

2013 07 Jun

A new study from Columbia University School of Nursing supports a growing body of evidence that women are less likely to contract bloodstream or surgical site infections than their male counterparts. Researchers investigated the incidence of infection in thousands of hospitalized patients and found the odds for women succumbing to a bloodstream...Read more

2013 07 Jun

BioFire Diagnostics, Inc. announced today that it obtained the CE IVD Mark under the European Directive on In Vitro Diagnostic Medical Devices for its FilmArray Blood Culture Identification (BCID) Panel. The BCID Panel tests positive blood cultures and can identify more than 100 blood pathogens known to cause sepsis. Sepsis, a serious medical condition,...Read more

2013 07 Jun

Xenex Healthcare Services announced on June 6, 2013, that Dr. Mark Stibich presented the poster “Reductions in Environmental Contamination and Hospital Infection Rates After Implementing a Pulsed-Xenon Ultraviolet (PX-UV) Disinfection System” at the International Forum on Quality & Safety in Healthcare in London. According to the poster, use of the...Read more

2013 06 Jun

CDC provides tools to help all U.S. dialysis facilities reduce potentially deadly infections On May 13, 2013, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released results of its Dialysis Bloodstream Infection Prevention Collaborative showing a 32 percent decrease in overall bloodstream infections and a 54 percent decrease in vascular...Read more