For Healthcare Professionals Mitigating Staphylococcus aureus colonization risk at a primary source Protecting patients from healthcare-associated infections (HAI) is a persistent challenge for healthcare professionals. According to a CDC study, about 4% of hospitalized patients develop at least one HAI[1]. Also called nosocomial infections, HAIs can have wide-ranging impacts, affecting everything from patient outcomes […]

For Healthcare Professionals Many different types of pathogens can cause infection, including viruses, bacteria, and fungi. Sometimes, getting one infection can lead to a weakening of the immune system or to damage to the respiratory tract, which can result in an increased risk of acquiring an additional infection, known as a secondary infection.   What […]

Important Message for Healthcare Professionals Advising Athletes such as Hockey Players Athletes work hard, play hard, and their training facilities and locker rooms often show it. One might expect to see sweaty equipment, damp towels, and scattered personal hygiene products throughout. These are ideal environments for bacterial growth which can put athletes at increased risk […]

Personal protective equipment (PPE) refers to clothing, tools and gear that is intended to protect an individual from potential hazards that they may be exposed to at work or while engaging in other activities. Common job hazards that may necessitate the use of PPE include exposure to dangerous chemicals, bodily fluids or infectious germs. Some […]

Employee wellness programs have become increasingly popular across companies of all sizes over the past few decades. [1]. Employee wellness programs were first initiated as an employee benefit and were advertised as a perk of working for some of these larger corporations. […]

Baylor Orthopedic and Spine Hospital at Arlington, Texas presented a poster at ID Week 2016: Pre- and Post-Operative Participation of Orthopedic Patients and Surgical Staff in a Novel Intervention to Reduce Staphylococcus aureus Infection. The premise of the poster abstract presentation was “overall reduction of potentially infectious bacteria in the immediate patient environment is critical to effective infection […]

According to the Centers for Disease Control, Hospital acquired infections (HAIs), including the infections caused by Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), are costing hospitals more than $30 billion per year. New federal health care rules are also reducing reimbursements to hospitals for HAI treatment. Studies show that nasal carriage plays a major role in HAI and […]

by Phenelle Segal Despite significant advances in the reduction of healthcare-associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), the process for prevention of transmission remains tedious, time consuming, demanding of healthcare personnel, costly and, oftentimes, unsuccessful. The traditional approach to prevention of transmission of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) has included screening for colonization (e.g., MRSA screening of […]

Martin J. Blaser, MD, is one of the world’s foremost authorities on the human microbiome – and he proved it last year with the publication of his critically acclaimed, best-selling book, “Missing Microbes,” which helped lay audiences better understand the microbiome’s often complex make-up and the important role it plays in human health.Now, Blaser will […]

Collecting and reporting hospital infection data to federal health agencies takes more than 5 hours each day, at the expense of time needed to ensure that frontline healthcare personnel are adhering to basic infection prevention practices such as hand hygiene, according to a recent case study, to be presented on Saturday, June 27 at the […]