Pillows: The Forgotten Fomite
Abstract The pillow is an oft-overlooked link in a chain of cross-infection between patients. In this review, various links of that chain are examined. Evidence is presented to support the existence of viable…
Healthcare-Associated Infections & Patient Safety
Increasing Importance of Barriers for Protection from Infectious Disease
Reduction of hospital-acquired infections is a major priority for hospital systems around the world. However, adoption of new technologies is often stunted due to acceptance of sub-optimal practices as ‘good enough.’ With lessons from…
Use of Novel Approaches to Reduce Clostridium Difficile in an Inner City Hospital
Background: Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming, Gram-positive anaerobic bacillus that can lead to antibiotic-associated diarrhea and sepsis.1 Since C. difficile is shed in feces, any surface that becomes contaminated with feces can serve as…
Reduction of HAIs with a Novel Yankauer Storage Solution
The Yankauer suction instrument is the most widely used suction instrument in the world. It is used in many medical settings including emergency departments, operating rooms, procedure rooms, intensive care units, recovery rooms, ambulances,…
Reduction of Bacteraemia through MRSA Surveillance
Bacteraemia is indicated by the presence of pathogens in blood. As this is systemic, bacteraemia can become fatal very quickly. In the United Kingdom, the institution of surveillance programs has decreased the incidence of…
I guess everything changes when it happens to you! Editorial Reflections on World MRSA Day.
Editorial By Rodney E. Rohde, PhD Abstract: On any given day, approximately 1 in 25 inpatients in U.S. acute care hospitals has at least one healthcare–associated infection (HAI), adding up to about 722,000 infections…
Protecting the Patient: Is it Time to Adopt Best Practices from the Pharmaceutical Industry?
Pharmaceutical companies spend an enormous amount of time and resources making sure that their products are safe for the patient. If a sterile drug company fails to do what is expected by a country’s…
Reducing HAIs: Awareness, Cleaning and Replacement of Cubicle Curtains
Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) are caused by a variety of pathogens which can often thrive on soft surfaces and are easily spread. This poses a danger for everyone who works in, receives treatment from or…
Hospital Infections: The Impact on Healthcare Worker Absenteeism
About half of all healthcare worker (HCW) absence can be attributed to gastrointestinal and/or respiratory illness, two sets of conditions that could be caught from patients. HCWs likely experience infection-related illness 1.5 times more…
Reduction of Hospital Environmental Contamination Using Automatic UV Room Disinfection
Conflicts of Interest Barry Hunt – President & CEO of Class 1 Inc. William Anderson – none. Abstract The use of mobile ultraviolet (UV) germicidal irradiation has been documented to reduce contamination levels…
Reduction of Catheter-Related Blood Stream Infections by Improving Compliance
Patients are especially prone to infections of the bloodstream when they are receiving medicines and nutrients through central and peripheral lines. At the Infection Prevention and Control Conference (Knowlex), held in London on February…
Insurance Companies Pay the Price for HAIs
Abstract: Hospitals continually publicize their levels of quality and safety, but there is still a steady increase in occurrences and fatalities due to infections transmitted within their four walls. In an industry where…
Evaluation of Bioburden Reduction with the Use of Stethoscope Covers
tips declare no conflict of interest with the following critical evaluation and research. No funds or influence were provided to the authors or InfectionControl.tips by any parties. Abstract: Patients in healthcare settings are at…
Reduction of Healthcare Associated Infections through the use of Pulsed Xenon Ultraviolet Disinfection
Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are a global problem, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, life-long disability to some survivors, and requiring billions of dollars of additional care. While the rate of…
Surgical Site Infection Surveillance: Should You Compare Me to My Neighbour?
Despite being preventable in most cases, surgical site infections still occur following 5% of all surgeries in Europe and North America. At the Infection Prevention and Control Conference (Knowlex) held in London on February…
Electromicyn Solution and Hydrogel: Topical Antimicrobial Wound Healing Agent
Open Peer-Review Introduction: Open peer-review is a novel tool to promote pan-access science, and helps to improve the quality of research projects. In this project, InfectionControl.tips opens the peer-review process to the experts, and encourages…
The Changing Face of Sepsis
There are few infections that can result in death or lifelong impairment in mere hours. Sepsis is caused by an inflammatory response by the body to combat infections in the blood. This inflammatory response…
Management of Invasive Mould Infections
Fungal diagnostics is an often overlooked field that has indirectly resulted in an increase in the number of antifungal-resistant pathogens. Fungal infections, such as candidosis and aspergillosis are the predominant types of fungal infections,…
Managing Infection Control in a Disaster
In this article, an introductory overview of managing the Infection risks during a disaster or mass casualty event is presented. Reaching an understanding of the key terms and definitions and then expanding on the…
The Suspicion of Sepsis
Sepsis has become the number one cause of hospital deaths in USA with 258,000 fatalities annually at a cost of over US$ 20 billion annually. 1 In the USA the most prevalent cause of…
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