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Though human transmission of avian influenza A (H5N1) is extremely rare, there are two published investigations that strongly suggest the emerging virus was transmitted to health care workers in 1997, and from a patient to family contacts in 2004.
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Anesthesiologists in hospitals with some of the best infection control programs in the country are reusing needles and contaminated multiple dose vials on multiple patients, according to survey results presented in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).
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Clinicians and public health officials in Michigan have identified both the fifth and sixth cases of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA), meaning four of the first six cases of the emerging pathogen have occurred in a single state.
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The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology is deepening its collaboration with the National Quality Forum (NQF) in an effort to create performance measures to that can be used by health care facilities to publicly report infection information data.
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Though a combination of contact and droplet infection control precautions are recommended in the federal influenza pandemic plans, questions remain about the possibility of airborne flu transmission.
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The fog of war is making it difficult to get a clear epidemiologic picture of why so many soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are developing highly resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infections.
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Adherence to hand hygiene in long-term care facilities is alarmingly low, investigators reported recently in Chicago at the annual meeting of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.
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Infection control practices often target clinician behaviors, eg, improving adherence to hand washing hygiene and other infection control practices.
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A 53-year-old woman with a history of splenectomy 15 years ago for idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and no chronic medical problems awoke with headache, myalgias, and fever. She was seen at her local urgent care that evening where she had a temperature of 102°F with mild tachycardia but otherwise normal vital signs.
