Safe Healthcare Blog

Hosted by CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. If you have questions or comments about healthcare safety topics, please contact CDC-INFO at https://wwwn.cdc.gov/dcs/ContactUs/Form.

Antibiotic Stewardship when an Allergy Label is Present Improves Our Antibiotic Care and Treatment Outcomes

Did You Know? Although 10% of the population in the U.S. reports a penicillin allergy, less than 1% of the population is truly penicillin allergic. Broad-spectrum antibiotics are often used as an alternative to penicillins. The use of broad-spectrum antibiotics in patients labeled “penicillin-allergic” is associated with higher healthcare costs, increased risk for antimicrobial resistance, Read More >

November 2, 2023 by Guest Author: Cosby Stone, Jr. MD, MPH, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonology, and Critical Care Medicine within the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center2 Comments

Medication Safety

Antibiotic Resistance, Antibiotic Resistance and Antibiotic Use (Stewardship), Antimicrobial-resistant infections, C. difficile, Collaborative Research, Treatment

Q&A on HICPAC’s process to update 2007 Isolation Guideline

healthcare workers wearing scrubs and masks

One way CDC protects the nation’s health is through guidelines for healthcare settings that protect patients, providers, visitors, and staff from infection. These guidelines are developed through an extensive process of scientific review and stakeholder engagement. This year, one of CDC’s advisory committees, the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC), is reviewing and updating Read More >

October 31, 2023 by Mike Bell, MD, and Alex Kallen, MD, MPH15 Comments

Uncategorized

Infection Control and Prevention

Ethiopian Hospitals Use Infection Prevention and Control Practices to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance

This story has moved and can be found on the International Infection Control Website at https://www.cdc.gov/international-infection-control/php/stories/ethiopian-hospitals-use-ipc.html Read More >

October 18, 2023 by Guest authors: Sophie Jones and Elizabeth Soda4 Comments

Advancing Global Healthcare Safety

Antibiotic Resistance and Antibiotic Use (Stewardship), Antimicrobial-resistant infections, Hand Hygiene, Healthcare-associated Infections, Infection Control and Prevention, Infection Prevention

My Daughter Died from Sepsis–Public Awareness is Critical

When our 9-month-old daughter, Clover, got sick with a fever in 2017, sepsis did not even cross our minds. Clover was a healthy baby and in daycare since she was 8 weeks old. When in daycare, a fever becomes a normal occurrence for children. We were told babies were little “germ factories,” and that seemed Read More >

September 20, 2023 by Allison Harrold2 Comments

Healthcare-associated infections

Sepsis

I Want My Sepsis Experience to Help Save Lives

In 2018, I got a small infection on my thumb that looked unusual, so I visited an emergency room. All my vital signs were strong at the time, and there was no indication that the infection had progressed or that my body had developed sepsis. Over the next 36 hours, I developed several of the Read More >

September 13, 2023 by Katy Grainger, Sepsis Survivor, double amputee, patient advocate and member of Sepsis Alliance Board of Directors13 Comments

Healthcare-associated infections, Patient Stories and Patient Safety

Healthcare-associated Infections, Infection Control and Prevention, patient stories and patient safety, Sepsis