MOVING ANNOUNCEMENT
We have moved our hand hygiene blog to another location. Our new site will give the chance to comment our posts and search older posts easier. We hope that these changes will bring us closer.
Tájékoztató az Ebola-lázról a hivatalos szakmai források alapján 2015. május 12.
2015.06.27.
“Nemzetközi járványügyi helyzet A WHO 2015. május 9-én Libériát, a három, intenzív terjedéssel sújtott ország egyikét Ebola-mentessé nyilvánította. A 2013 decemberében kezdődött nyugat-afrikai Ebola-láz járványban eddig 26 683 megbetegedést regisztráltak, melyek közül 11 022 végződött halállal a WHO május 8-i adatai alapján. Guineában a járvány kezdete óta összesen 3 589 megbetegedést regisztráltak, a rendelkezésre álló május 6-i adatok alapján közülük 2 386 végződött halállal. Libériában 10 564 megbetegedést észleltek a járvány folyamán, a betegek közül 4 716 halt meg. Sierra Leonében 12 440 megbetegedés történt eddig, körükben 3 903 halálozást regisztráltak. A WHO május 6-i helyzetjelentésének adatai alapján a… Read more
Returned from ICPIC 2015
2015.06.22.
We have returned from a successful ICPIC15 conference that was attended by over 1000 participants from 80 different countries.
Thanks for all the 200+ people showing up and trying our latest generation Hand-in-Scan, stopping by at our poster or attending our talks.
3rd ICPIC conference (16-19 June) – Meet us there!
2015.06.18.
“Participants from 102 countries attended ICPIC in 2011 and 2013. ICPIC provides a unique forum for the exchange of knowledge and experience in the prevention of healthcare-associated infection and control of antimicrobial resistance around the world. Though advances in infection control and prevention are being made, antimicrobial resistance persists as a global threat confronting all countries alike. The need to share knowledge and experience remains unchanged. ICPIC will be able to provide the necessary platform for such an exchange once again.” Source: www.icpic.com
Keep a Look Out for MERS, CDC says/Middle East Respiratory Syndrome
2015.06.16.
Keep a Look Out for MERS, CDC says Yesterday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told United States healthcare facilities to keep a lookout for patients showing symptoms of MERS, which is the acronym used for Middle East respiratory syndrome, but added the general public was at very low risk to this virus. Symptoms include cold-like symptoms, such as fever, cough and shortness of breath. What makes it different than the common cold is three to four out of 10 patients who report having it, have died, the CDC reports, adding they also normally had other medical conditions. This virus, which is spread… Read more
Infection prevention in hospitals: The importance of hand hygiene
Hand hygiene is described by many health care workers as the single most important tool in preventing the spread of health care-associated infections between patients. According to WHO, there are few definitive data on the patient-care activities that are most likely to transmit bacteria to health care worker (HCW) hands, but there have been several studies that identified many possibilities. Although bacteria have been found on HCW hands after activities such as wound care, intravascular catheter care, respiratory tract care and handling patient secretions as expected, bacteria also have been found after so-called “clean” contact, such as taking a patient’s… Read more
SwipeSense gets $9.6M for hand hygiene tracking system
Smart hand hygiene sensor-maker SwipeSense, based in Evanston, Illinois, has raised $9.6 million according to a new SEC filing. This brings the company’s total funding to $12.1 million. The company raised $1.7 million last May. Previous investors in the company include Jumpstart Ventures and Healthbox, which counts SwipeSense among the graduates of its very first class back in 2011. SwipeSense offers hospitals different kinds of hand sanitizer dispensers, including a wall-mounted version and a wearable version. The sanitizers are all connected to an app that automates the manual observation reporting and also analyzes the information. Everyone in the hospital also wears a… Read more
Superbugs in Crosshairs at National Meeting
2015.06.15.
With antibiotic resistance being the focus of conversation, 150 food companies, retailers, and health and animal health stakeholders met in Washington D.C. at the National Action Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria. They included professional organizations, like APIC, and infection control suppliers like CareFusion, Clorox Company and PDI Healthcare. The most widely publicized outcome of this meeting was the Presidential Memorandum signed by President Barak Obama to create responsible antibiotic-use preferences for meat and poultry. This is planned to be enforced starting in 2018 for poultry, and 2020 for other meats. The stakeholders also made individual commitments to help to “improve antibiotic… Read more
HAI Reductions: Infection Control Personnel Lead the Way
2015.06.14.
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Patty Taylor, Vice President, Professional Education and Clinical Affairs at Ansell, about the current state of infection control. We started our conversation off on a high note: the CDC released their HAI progress report in January, and the news is good. In reference to these victories, and throughout the interview Taylor kept returning to two themes: the front-line presence of Infection Control (IC) personnel, and the importance of continuous improvement. HAIs only show up in the news when there is a crisis. Within the last year, the two biggest stories have been the… Read more