Hospital Infection Control & Prevention – March 1, 2004

March 1, 2004

• AHA is leading a hospital rebellion against OSHA’s tuberculosis mandate

  Charging that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) violated laws for regulatory review and comment, the American Hospital Association (AHA) is rallying opposition to recently mandated tuberculosis requirements that include annual respirator fit-testing.

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• APIC appeals to ICPs to write letters to OSHA

  In launching a protest letter-writing campaign against new federal requirements regarding tuberculosis, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology created the following template.

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• APIC to OSHA: TB was stopped without respirators

  In a formal letter to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regarding its recently announced tuberculosis requirements, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) made the following key objections to the action.

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• Dissenting opinion: An ICP who favors fit-testing

  Though annual respirator fit-testing is being widely criticized, an infection control professional strongly recommends the practice after seeing a group of co-workers get infected with tuberculosis even though they were wearing N95 respirators.

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• Abstract & Commentary: Contact isolation: Is patient too isolated?

  Synopsis: As determined by process of care measurement, adverse event occurrence, and patient satisfaction, quality of care is compromised by infection control procedures.

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• Needlestick workbook available from CDC

  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which has been criticized for not being more directive and aggressive on preventing needle stick injuries, has posted an impressive, interactive workbook on the issue.

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• Join our free weekly e-mail alert today

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• Art of the matter: Tattoos, body piercing, and HCV

  Personal statements and adornments made though tattoos and body piercing may have an insidious underside: Evidence continues to mount that they increase the risk of hepatitis C virus.

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• Bioterrorism Watch Supplement

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