Categories: CLABSI, Healthcare-associated infections, NHSN
February 8th, 2012 11:16 am ET -
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Daniel Pollock, MD
Author: Dan Pollock
CDC, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Surveillance Branch Chief
CMS announced today that its Hospital Compare website now includes central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) data reported from hospital ICUs to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). In many places, this is the first time consumers can see how well their local hospitals prevent CLABSIs, one of the most deadly and preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).
These data reflect hospital performance during the first quarter of 2011. In many cases, there was not enough data to produce a valid score for a specific hospital. As new data are added each quarter to Hospital Compare, enough information will be available to report accurate measures for more hospitals. A view of statewide progress is also available, based on data from hospitals that participate in CMS’s Value-Based Purchasing program.
Consumers are encouraged to research their local hospitals on Hospital Compare and use the information as a discussion point with their healthcare providers. The information should not be used as the sole factor in choice of hospital.
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Categories: Healthcare-associated infections
January 12th, 2012 6:56 am ET -
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Norovirus poster
Authors Tara MacCannell, PhD [1], Ben Lopman, PhD [2]
[1] Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
[2] Division of Viral Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Winter is prime time for norovirus outbreaks. Norovirus strikes swiftly, causing acute gastroenteritis and usually involves rapid-onset diarrhea, vomiting, and nausea. Sometimes it is accompanied by fever and dehydration. People get infected with norovirus by ingesting it through norovirus-contaminated hands, food, or droplets from vomit. The virus is incredibly infectious, and even if you’ve had the infection in the past, you can still get sick. Unfortunately, immunity is not long-lasting.
Norovirus is the most common cause of gastroenteritis outbreaks in the U.S., and the majority of outbreaks are reported from healthcare settings, both long term care facilities and hospitals. Since norovirus can spread very quickly, many people can become infected within a matter of a few days. This is particularly concerning in healthcare settings, as staff, patients, and visitors are all at risk for infection.
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, Healthcare-associated infections
November 21st, 2011 3:37 pm ET -
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SHEA
Author – Sara Cosgrove, MD, MS
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Antibiotic resistance isn’t a scare tactic or a doomsday scenario; it’s a real and present danger confronting hospitals and healthcare facilities throughout the world. From 2006 to 2008, rates of resistance to imipenem, an antibiotic used to treat resistant organisms, among the bacteria Acinetobacter doubled[i]. And that’s just one example.
In our consumer-driven society, the answer of many would be to create new drugs. Yet, only two new antibiotics have been approved by the FDA since 2008[ii] and the pipeline of new drugs is nearly dry. Even if a company was to begin developing a new drug today, barring any development issues it would not reach the market until 2020.
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, Healthcare-associated infections
November 18th, 2011 1:57 pm ET -
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Ramanan Laxminarayan, PhD
Author – Ramanan Laxminarayan, Ph.D.,
director of Extending the Cure (ETC)
Patients in the United States are among the most intensive users of antibiotics in the world, but you may be surprised to learn that overall per capita outpatient antibiotic prescribing in the United States has decreased in recent years. In fact, between 1999 and 2007, the number of dispensed antibiotic prescriptions per thousand inhabitants dropped from 975 to 858 – a 12% decline.
Extending the Cure’s ResistanceMap shows new visualizations documenting this downward trend in prescribing. But enthusiasm should be tempered by some troubling patterns of antibiotic use.
For example, while penicillins still account for one out of every three antibiotic prescriptions filled, the use of more powerful, broad-spectrum antibiotics is increasingly rapidly. Dispensing of one powerful class of antibiotics, fluoroquinolones, increased by 49% over the time period.
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Categories: Antimicrobial Resistance, Healthcare-associated infections, Long Term Care (LTC)
November 16th, 2011 12:36 pm ET -
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amda Dedicated To Long Term Care Medicine
AMDA – Dedicated to Long Term Care
Many of us have or will have loved ones in long term care facilities. These healthcare settings are critical to providing healthcare and everyday assistance to people with chronic illnesses or disabilities, who otherwise would be unable to take care of themselves. Like other healthcare settings, antibiotics are not always used correctly or wisely in long term care. We are glad that CDC is addressing and promoting the appropriate use of antibiotics to ensure the prolonged use of these important drugs and delay the rise of untreatable infections.
We believe that medical directors of long term care facilities can have enormous impact on appropriate antibiotic use. Here are some things they can do to ensure correct use of antibiotics for your loved ones:
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