The first study documenting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in swine and swine workers in the United States has been published by University of Iowa researchers.
New elimination guides on preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia, MRSA in long-term care settings, catheter-associated urinary tract and bloodstream infections, and Acinetobacter baumannii are in the works.
Workers who became ill with silicosis, cancers, and beryllium disease through exposures as they manufactured atomic weapons have been assisted by the Labor Department-administered program since 2001.
The American Cancer Society's new president, Elizabeth T.H. Fontham, dean of the LSU Health and Sciences Center's School of Public Health, says projected growth of the world's older population will strain "fragile medical, public health, and economic systems of countries that can least afford it."
HHS announced today it has given Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc. a $487 million contract to build the plant.
Atlanta media and public health blogs reported today that Julie Gerberding, head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was among several top HHS officials whom Secretary Mike Leavitt asked to submit letters of resignation timed for the new Obama administration's arrival.
The plan includes a set of five-year targets, including a 50 percent reduction in the incidence rate for health care-associated MRSA infections. Soon the agency will announce dates and locations of public meetings about the plan. Comments are due by Feb. 6.
"With an increasing amount of care being delivered in outpatient settings, more patients will be put at risk unless clinicians are adequately educated and consistently adhere to infection prevention measures," said Kathy Warye, CEO of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology.
The Food and Drug Administration recently approved the cobas TaqScreen MPX Test, the first nucleic acid test that screens for the presence of two divergent types of HIV in donated blood plasma and tissue.
The UAB School of Public Health's dean, Dr. Max Michael, recently announced winning proposals of the inaugural Back of the Envelope Awards, a grant project for health research funded from the school's budget.
Two investigators from the Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology at Northwestern University report today a method in the journal Science that "can limit the spread of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria."
NIOSH has engaged The National Academies' Institute of Medicine to review the draft NIOSH Current Intelligence Bulletin: "Asbestos Fibers and other Elongated Mineral Particles: State of the Science and Roadmap for Research."
The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) is urging health care workers and their employers to follow three basic steps this flu season to help prevent influenza infections in the health care workforce.
ASTM International has formed a new task group on antimicrobial medical gloves and invites glove suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors; contract test labs; government agency representatives; and infection control practitioners to participate in it.
"The placement of sharps containers, as well as the measures used to maintain them in an upright position during use, must be based on the site-specific hazard assessment of the area of intended use," wrote Richard E. Fairfax, director of OSHA's Enforcement Program Directorate.
To help raise awareness regarding the seriousness of influenza and the importance of annual vaccination throughout the influenza season the Department of Health and Human Services, National Influenza Vaccine Summit, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and other partners are conducting activities during the third annual National Influenza Vaccination Week, starting today and running through Dec. 14, 2008.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and WebMD have announced a collaboration that expands consumers' access to the agency's timely and reliable important health information. This joint effort reflects FDA's emphasis on using innovative, technology-based strategies to carry out its foremost mission, which is to promote and to protect the public health.
An NIH funded multi-center clinical trial found no benefit from "maintenance therapy," low-dose peginterferon used for hepatitis C patients who have not responded to an initial round of treatment. In addition, the study showed a surprising health decline in patients with liver disease over the course of four years.
At least two of the four states that are not being recommended by DHS may challenge the decision, the Associated Press reports.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released two new checklists to help Spanish-speaking men and women older than age 50 keep track of when they should have potentially life-saving screening exams done.