Proton Labs MRSA Watch

Proton Labs MRSA Watch http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch It's in the Water Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:57:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 en UK-The Comet 24-Isolation ward to combat infection http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1722 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1722#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:27:27 +0000 aogilvie UK News Hospital Infection Against MRSA http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1722 AN ISOLATION ward costing £200,000 officially opened at Lister Hospital today (Thursday) in a bid to combat a healthcare-associated infection.

The ward is aimed at treating people who have tested positive for clostridium difficile - a bacteria that can cause infections in people, with symptoms such as diarrhoea and other more serious conditions affecting the gut.

The ward, which will operate for a six-month trial period, will be run by a senior sister and will have nurses from a variety of disciplines who have undergone detailed infection control training.

Noel Scanlon, the East and North Herts NHS Trust’s director of infection prevention and control, said: “Clostridium difficile poses particular problems for us and the patients we care for. It is one of the few infections that requires hand washing with soap and water rather than alcohol gel.

“This is because it produces spores that can persist in the environment for some time and requires very thorough cleaning to get rid of them.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1722 UK-Camden New Journal-Coming clean: Hospital’s dirty secrets revealed http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1720 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1720#comments Fri, 21 Sep 2007 00:22:44 +0000 aogilvie MRSA UK News Hospital Infection Against MRSA Clostridium Difficile http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1720 ‘UCL is losing the fight against viruses’

CLEANERS sleeping on the job, doctors not washing their hands and patients waiting by bedsides for the space to become vacant – an expert in infection control has revealed the harsh reality behind the glossy image of University College London Hospital.

Annette Jeanes, director of infection control at the Bloomsbury hospital, said she is battling to keep MRSA and virus C-difficile at bay under impossible conditions.
She described how patients are rushed through to meet government targets and cleaners are overworked, underpaid and ignored by their more qualified colleagues.
Ms Jeanes said: “We’re teaching cleaners to wash their hands and they say ‘that’s interesting, why don’t you teach the doctors?’. I spend a lot of time teaching doctors to wash their hands, but the doctors are not that interested. They think they save lives and that’s enough.”

She said a consultant from the United States had to be flown in recently just to get the message across, adding: “We had tried to engage doctors but they just weren’t interested. We got a company to pay for it. The doctors came in droves. They ate the food, came to see the guru and listened. If they don’t listen to their own experts we’ll get someone they will listen to.”

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1720 UK-Legal & Medical-Johnson announces new anti-infection measures http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1723 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1723#comments Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:36:03 +0000 aogilvie MRSA UK News Hospital Infection Clostridium Difficile http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1723 ealth Secretary Alan Johnson this week announced a package of measures to help tackle hospital infections.

The new measures, part of a government initiative to combat healthcare associated infections (HAIs), include an increase in the powers of matrons, new guidance on the NHS dress code and a legal obligation for NHS trusts to report every case of MRSA and C difficile infection.

The Health Secretary said, “I’m determined that patient safety, including cleanliness, should be the first priority of every organisation.

“This is a clear signal to patients that doctors, nurses, and other clinical staff are taking their safety seriously,” he added.

The new measures include:

1. Matrons and clinical directors will report directly to trust boards on infection contol and cleanliness.
2. Hospitals will adopt a new “bare below the elbows” dress code – ending use of the traditional doctors’ white coat.
3. Isolation for those patients who are infected with MRSA and C difficile. Greater use of single rooms, cohort nursing and better management of isolated patients.
4. The National Patient Safety Agency will extend its ‘cleanyourhands’ campain outside of hospitals.
5. A new legal requirement will be placed on chief executives to report all MRSA and C difficile infections to the Health Protection Agency.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1723 US-ABC News-Docs: U.K. Coat Ban Alone Won’t Stop Infection http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1724 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1724#comments Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:39:37 +0000 aogilvie North America News UK News Hospital Infection Against MRSA http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1724 While British doctors are preparing for nationwide dress code changes aimed at reducing the spread of infection in hospitals, U.S. doctors are split as to whether such measures should be tabled here as well.

According to guidelines published Monday that go into effect next year, health officials will urge British hospitals to encourage doctors to stop wearing neckties, long sleeves, jewelry, even their traditional white coats, as part of a “bare below the elbows” approach to cutting infection.

Research has shown that limiting the spread of certain infections by going after the wardrobe makes sense. In 2004, researchers at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queen’s found that nearly half the neckties worn by 42 doctors contained bacteria implicated in dangerous conditions like pneumonia and blood infections.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1724 Canada-Globe and Mail-Hospitals urged to post infection rates http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1719 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1719#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:56:06 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Hospital acquired Infection Legislation http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1719 Public has a right to know,’ experts say in wake of superbug report

TORONTO — Hospitals should be compelled to post their infection rates, screen patients for superbugs and financially compensate the thousands of Canadians infected in the institutions, patient advocates and experts say.

“The public has the right to know infection rates,” said Christine Besson, board secretary of the Association to Defend Victims of Nosocomial Infections.

“It’s our taxes, we pay for the hospitals.”

Hospitals, she said, should also inform the public about the steps being taken to reduce infections, including screening patients for superbugs such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), hand-hygiene audits and other measures.

She is one of several advocates calling for change after stories on the scourge of hospital-acquired infections were published in The Globe and Mail on Saturday.

An estimated 220,000 Canadians develop hospital-acquired infections each year and the number killed by them - more than 8,000 - is roughly the same number who die from breast cancer and road traffic accidents.

Yet, patients are often left in the dark about superbugs as most hospitals in Canada do not publish infection rates.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1719 US-MA-Milford Daily News-Lawmakers push health care bill http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1718 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1718#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:51:32 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Hospital acquired Infection Legislation http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1718 BOSTON - Jamie Stevenson of Waltham was 16 when doctors misdiagnosed two broken bones as a case of tendonitis. It took six months before the right assessment was made.

Yesterday, Stevenson, now 27, appeared before the Joint Committee on Public Health to endorse a bill that sponsors say will help reduce such errors by making patients and doctors partners in care, while also requiring more detailed reports on hospital infections and misdiagnoses.

“The bill is really about openness, honesty and truth telling in health care,” said Stevenson, who appeared on a panel with members of the Consumer Health Quality Council, a part of the organization Health Care For All.

The proposed legislation called for six provisions including the reduction of hospital-acquired infections, including regular hospital reports on infection rates.

Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, co-chairman of the committee, added his own endorsement. “This bill will unquestionably save lives as well as valuable health care dollars,” he said.

Koutoujian said according to federal figures, medical errors are a leading cause of death in the nation, more than automobile accidents, breast cancer or AIDS. “These cases are entirely preventable,” Koutoujian said.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1718 US-PA-Waynesboro Record Herald-Waynesboro crosswalk victim dies in hospital http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1713 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1713#comments Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:05:21 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Patient Hospital Experiences Clostridium Difficile http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1713 WAYNESBORO - The man struck while crossing Main Street in his motorized chair on July 10 died Tuesday evening in Harrisburg General Hospital.

Franklin Bowers, 71, who lived at Trinity House on North Potomac Street, died from an infection called clostridium difficile colitis (c-diff), according to his son, Dwayne Bowers of Waynesboro.

Dwayne is not sure if the infection was caused by his injuries in the crash and is attempting to get his father’s medical records. He said if the infection was caused by the accident, his lawyers will proceed from there. Dwayne Bowers said he does not know if Waynesboro police will become involved if his father’s death is related to the crash.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1713 US-IN-Indy Star.com-IU researcher leads fight against infections http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1717 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1717#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:26:03 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Against MRSA http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1717 Study of how to reduce hospital superbugs could help save lives, money nationwide

It may be as simple as screening hospital patients for superbug infections.

That’s one prescription Indianapolis hospitals are testing in an effort to decrease the number of deaths and illnesses caused by infections that health-care providers may inadvertently spread to patients.

Working with every hospital system in Indianapolis, Indiana University School of Medicine researcher Dr. Bradley Doebbeling is conducting a study that could help save lives, prevent infections and save hospitals money.

The hope is that hospitals will change policies that could reduce the number of patients in intensive care units who develop infections that are resistant to frontline antibiotics, such as penicillin.

If the methods he’s advocating prove successful, health-care providers nationwide could follow the model and reduce infection rates in their hospitals.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1717 Canada-The Canadian Press- Symptomless carriers of C. diff may pose infection risk to other patients http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1716 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1716#comments Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:21:29 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Clostridium Difficile http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1716 TORONTO (CP) — People who have C. difficile spores in their gastrointestinal tracts but who aren’t sick may be serving as a source of infection for others in hospitals and long-term care facilities battling outbreaks of the difficult-to-contain diarrhea, a new study suggests.U.S. researchers found these seemingly unaffected patients were nearly as likely as people sick with Clostridium difficile diarrhea to have the bacteria on their skin or on objects in their bedside area.

They even found spores on and around patients who weren’t shedding C. difficile - a discovery that suggests health-care workers were unwittingly spreading bacteria from asymptomatic carriers to non-carriers in the facility.

“It’s kind of been passed down over the years that the patients we should worry the most about are the patients who are having diarrhea,” said senior author Dr. Curtis Donskey, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University and director of infection control at the Louis Stokes Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio.

]]> http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?feed=rss2&p=1716 Canada-Globe and Mail-Top hospital to screen all patients for superbugs http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1714 http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1714#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2007 23:05:21 +0000 aogilvie North America News Hospital Infection Against MRSA http://proton.fatcow.com/mrsawatch/?p=1714 TORONTO — Canada’s largest research hospital is about to launch a massive screening program that will test every overnight patient for two virulent superbugs that kill thousands in their path. For the 30,000 people admitted annually at the University Health Network in Toronto – whether for a broken hip or brain surgery – the nation’s most ambitious bug-fighting plan in history will subject their noses, underarms, groins and anuses to swab-wielding staff.

The network’s three facilities – Princess Margaret, Toronto General and Toronto Western hospitals – will start screening as early as next month, taking aim at methicillen-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The two intruders, along with other superbugs, are among the hospital-acquired infections that kill more than 8,000 people a year, roughly the same number who die of breast cancer and car accidents combined.

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