Category: Infection Control

The Joint Commission has added new and revised standing requirements for accreditation of both critical access hospitals and hospitals for infection control procedures, the organization announced Jan. 10.

The FDA now recognizes vaporized hydrogen peroxide as an established sterilization method for medical devices, according to a Jan. 8 update. 

The CDC is calling for improved donor screening and culture-based testing of donor organs and tissues after the second outbreak of tuberculosis in transplant cases.

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology has launched a staffing calculator tool to support infection prevention and control leaders in making decisions around staffing and resource allocation. 

Northwell Health, Henry Ford Health and Corewell Health are making strides in reducing sepsis deaths through one key factor: accountability. 

New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health has cut its sepsis infection rates in half amid mounting pressures from the Biden administration for U.S. hospitals to do more to reduce sepsis deaths — which account for about 270,000 deaths annually.

When patients are colonized with Candida auris, contamination of their surrounding environments can happen within just a few hours, according to the results of a new study. 

More health systems have implemented mask rules in recent weeks amid an uptick in respiratory virus activity and growing concerns over potential capacity issues this winter.

The simple act of tooth brushing at least once per day can lower a patient’s risk of getting infected with hospital-acquired pneumonia, according to a study published Dec. 18 in JAMA.

As antibiotic resistance grows, so does research toward preventing and treating Clostridioides difficile, a bacterium known to be one of the leading causes of healthcare-associated infections in U.S. patients that can sometimes turn fatal. Often, infec…