News & Perspective

(CIDRAP News) – A new large-scale study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections shows that infection rates have dropped in hospitalized people and those recently exposed to healthcare settings, but experts aren't sure what factors are driving the decline.

(CIDRAP News) – An observational survey of infection control practices in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) in three states found that two thirds of the centers had at least one lapse and nearly 18% had three or more gaps in five reviewed areas, researchers from two federal agencies reported yesterday.

(CIDRAP News) – Reports from 17 states show that one major type of healthcare-associated infection (HAI) dropped 18% in the first half of 2009, suggesting that the healthcare system is making progress in the battle against infections in hospitals, national health officials announced today.

(CIDRAP News) – A day before the May 5 call toaction from the World Health Organization (WHO) to improve hand hygienepractices in healthcare workers, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC) held a clinicians teleconference on the topic and said it would unveil anew online resource tomorrow as part of the day's events.

(CIDRAP News) – The latest data show little progress in eliminating healthcare-associated infections, with several types increasing, according to a report released yesterday by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

(CIDRAP News) – Healthcare-associated infections in hospitals, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), can be controlled through a variety of strategies that can be tuned to local and national systems, according to research presented this past weekend.

(CIDRAP News) – Requiring healthcare workers to get vaccinated against influenza is one effective way to boost their vaccination rates, and another may be to target immunization messages to workers who are relatively isolated from coworkers, according to reports being presented this week at a conference on healthcare-associated infections.