The Infection Control Today® health care-acquired infections (HAIs) page presents updates on the latest techniques and strategies in the never-ending battle between infection preventionists and HAIs. Focusing on the latest in medical literature, we also present perspectives from the top infection preventionists and other medical experts in the country about how to put the growing knowledge of HAIs into use in the everyday world of infection prevention. Articles and videos often focus on methods to contain and control pathogens and multidrug-resistant organisms from spreading within the health care system.
November 21st 2024
The Leapfrog Group enhances hospital safety by publicizing hand hygiene performance, improving patient safety outcomes, and significantly reducing health care-associated infections through transparent standards and monitoring initiatives.
November 4th 2024
Investigators Offer Hope for Drug That Would Cure C. Diff
January 3rd 2020It’s not a cure for Clostridiodies difficile, but it’s certainly a huge step toward finding one for the deadly infection that claims 15,000 lives a year in the United States alone, according to investigators who say they have identified the toxin that the most virulent strains of C. diff releases.
White Paper: Nasal Decolonization's Broadening Application: Replacing Contact Precautions
March 10th 2018An increase in prevalence in healthcare settings across the continuum of care over several decades has resulted in MRSA and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) being given priority as targets of reduction efforts by several regulatory and advisory bodies. These include the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Nasal Decolonization's Broadening Application: Replacing Contact Precautions
March 10th 2018An increase in prevalence in healthcare settings across the continuum of care over several decades has resulted in MRSA and other multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) being given priority as targets of reduction efforts by several regulatory and advisory bodies. These include the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
From Stewardship to Scopes: Infection Prevention Imperatives for 2018
January 5th 2018Stewardship and scopes are just two issues that are top of mind for stakeholders in infection prevention and healthcare epidemiology for the new year. Let's explore the imperatives, as suggested by leaders in the infection prevention and control community.
Enhanced Test for UTIs Detects More Bacteria Than Standard Test
June 5th 2017One of the primary ways physicians diagnose urinary tract infections is with a test that detects bacteria in urine. A new enhanced test, developed at Loyola University Chicago, detects significantly more bacteria than the standard test, according to a study presented at a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology in New Orleans.
IC in Care Series: Long-Term Care
June 2nd 2017With the U.S. healthcare reform mandate for increasing transparency and improved quality, the need for infection prevention and control in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is becoming more critical than ever before for the more than 3 million Americans receiving geriatric care in U.S. annually. Consider these facts regarding infection in long-term care: • An estimated 1.6 million to 3.8 million infections occur in long-term care facilities each year. • More than 1.5 million people live in 16,000 nursing homes in the United States. Estimates suggest infections could result in as many as 380,000 deaths among those residents each year. • The nursing home population is expected to increase to about 5.3 million people by 2030.