Environmental Services

The CDC, in collaboration with the Dialysis Bloodstream Infection Prevention Collaborative, has recently developed several new tools to prevent bloodstream infections among outpatient hemodialysis patients. Most recently, a new checklist tool for Dialysis Station Routine Disinfection was developed and piloted at St. Albans satellite clinic affiliated with Fletcher Allen Healthcare in Vermont. Today, on CDCs Safe Healthcare blog, Peggy Bushey, nurse manager for renal services at Fletcher Allen Healthcare, describes the impact of this new checklist on the St. Albans clinic. She reports several positive outcomes associated with waiting for the patient to leave the station before beginning routine disinfection.  In a separate post on CDCs Safe Healthcare blog, Dr. Priti Patel, medical officer and lead of CDCs Dialysis Safety efforts, describes how elements of routine disinfection of the dialysis station are basic patient safety expectations. The new Dialysis Station Routine Disinfection checklist tool and accompanying Notes for Clinical Managers may be found in the Prevention Tools section of CDCs Dialysis Safety website. Join the conversation on CDCs Safe Healthcare blog: http://blogs.cdc.gov/safehealthcare

Loyola University Health System is the first academic medical center in Illinois to take disinfection to futuristic levels. Nicknamed Ralph by the housekeeping staff at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and little Joe at Loyola University Medical Center, 3-foot upright cylindrical robots provide the finishing touches to room sanitation. A rotating telescopic head emits germicidal ultraviolet (UV) rays for 15 minutes in closed, unoccupied rooms to systematically kill germs.

Infection Control Today invited manufacturers of automated hand hygiene monitoring systems to provide information that will assist infection preventionists in evaluating and purchasing these technologies.

Companies are announcing their educational offerings as well as opportunities to netwrok and see new products and services at the 40th annual meeting of the Association for the Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), to be held June 8-10, 2013 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper and copper alloys will rapidly destroy norovirus. The virus can be contracted from contaminated food or water, person-to-person contact, and contact with contaminated surfaces, meaning surfaces made from copper could effectively shut down one avenue of infection.