Category: Infection Control

University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia researchers have developed the first mRNA Clostridioides difficile vaccine — and it’s shown promising results in animal models.

Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt Health is notifying an unspecified number of patients who may have been exposed to HIV, hepatitis B and C during endoscopy procedures at a clinic on the health system’s main campus, FOX affiliate WZTV reported Oct. 11….

Hospitals with lower staffing levels in infection prevention and control teams have higher rates of healthcare-associated infections, according to an Oct. 10 study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

At four hospitals, 46 patients experienced Burkholderia multivorans infections from contaminations within ice machines, the CDC said in its Oct. 3 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

The winter COVID-19 wave may be smaller this year; the flu virus has mutated and vaccines are expected to not be as effective; and experts are keeping a close eye on possible human-to-human transmission in avian flu, Johns Hopkins public health experts…

St. Louis-based Washington University School of Medicine researchers found that fidaxomicin, a treatment for Clostridioides difficile infection, has increased in use but “remains underutilized.”

A CDC advisory committee has been working to update an influential set of infection control guidelines since August 2023. Over the past year, the agency has faced growing pressure from clinicians, who have criticized early versions of the updated guida…

Vaccine hesitancy appears to be driving up infection rates among diseases like whooping cough, measles and COVID-19.

New Mexico has the highest rate of Clostridium difficile infections for the second year, while Nevada has the lowest, federal data shows.

Hospitals are ramping up their focus on hand hygiene compliance to prevent infections and improve patient safety, new data from The Leapfrog Group suggests.