>>Feb 25/09

Reducing bacterial contamination using silver antimicrobial technology
New study examines whether the use of silver-treated materials can help contain the spread of nosocomial infections.

>>Feb 26/09

High-tech innovations to combat MRSA and C. diff are unveiled
Modern methods for combating MRSA to be piloted in seven NHS hospitals.

Portable hand washing stations, infection resistant loos, and pop-up isolation rooms are among the new technologies hospitals will be introducing to combat MRSA and C. diff, ministers said.

>>Feb 16/09

States consider requiring hospitals to screen for MRSA
Four states (California, Illinois, New Jersey and Pennsylvania) require hospitals to screen high-risk patients for MRSA.  Eight states considered such legislation last year, and Washington and Kentucky filed new bills in late January.

The rate of patients entering the hospital with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus increased eightfold between 1999 and 2006. Politicians in statehouses around the country say hospitals need to take a more active approach to stopping MRSA’s spread.

A show of hands reveals the value of good hygiene
A study at the Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center gives a visceral lesson in the need for cleaning protocols and hand hygiene:

To show how infected – and contagious – an asymptomatic carrier could be, a physician examined the patient with an ungloved hand and then pressed his hand into a petri dish. After incubation, researchers were surprised to see MRSA bacteria growing in the dish so thickly that images of the physician’s fingers are easily discernable.

Jury awards $17.5 million to man who lost limbs from MRSA infection
A Texan man has been awarded a multi-million dollar settlement after he lost his limbs to gangrene that set in after septic shock from undiagnosed MRSA.

>>Feb 17/09

Bacterial Infections in Hospitals Decline
Time Magazine writes on the misleading nature of headline-grabbing superbug scares – that despite stories about sports teams and schools, superbugs are still largely found only in hospital settings.

The goal now is to further reduce the risk of MRSA in vulnerable populations by identifying them early on: according to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, 10 states currently require screening of high-risk patients, including those in the ICU and with weaker immune systems, for MRSA, and other states may soon adopt similar screening laws.

>>Feb 7/09

MRSA’s on the Move
Nurses dealing with the risks when MRSA moves from hospitals to community-based clinics — particularly for patients with diabetes.

“MRSA is not a word we take lightly around here,” said Candy Gauthier, LPN, staff nurse in The William W. Backus Hospital department of endocrinology and metabolism, an offsite clinic based in Norwich, CT. “It’s scary to think that this is not just occurring in the hospital anymore.”

>>Feb 9/09

Next Biotech Opportunity Could be in Hospital-Acquired Infections
Kalorama Information, a medical market business intelligence firm, speculates in their new report that it will be biotech companies who lead the way in combatting HAI.

Hospital acquired infections (HAI) are exacting a significant toll on human life, ranking among the top ten leading causes of death in the United States. With an estimated 5%-10% hospital patients acquiring an infection, about two million cases each year and about 90,000 deaths, there is a huge associated financial burden which a new report from Kalorama Information, “Nosocomial Infections: Market Assessment for Diagnostics and Therapeutics,” estimates at between $4.5 billion and $5.78 billion annually.

…

“HAIs, especially the foreign bugs, are a considerable problem and the healthcare community needs help,” said Bruce Carlson, publisher of Kalorama Information. “Unfortunately, the pharmaceutical industry has practically abandoned developing treatments. It will fall to the biotechnology community, and biotech companies have a market opportunity here that could provide them a major revenue stream.”

>>Feb 12/09

“The war against superbugs”
CBC digs into the “War on Superbugs”:

“A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control in December 2008, found that rates of hospital-acquired infections soared in Canada between 1999 and 2005.

Rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus – known as MRSA — more than doubled in the period from 1999 to 2005, said the study, which was based on a survey of hospitals with 80 or more beds.

There were 5.2 cases of MRSA per 1,000 hospital admissions in 2005, up from two per 1,000 in 1999. There was also an upward trend in C. difficile infections, and the number of hospitals reporting new cases of infection with VRE soared.”

>>Feb 13/09

BioScience Laboratories Approved to Test MRSA on Human Volunteers
In the States, BioScience Laboratories have received approval to begin testing their product’s efficacy against MRSA on human skin.

>>Feb 4/09

GPs urged to cut antibiotic use

Hospitals in Ireland are urged to curb overprescription of antibiotics.  Professor Hilary Humphreys warns that “Antibiotics kill bacteria and not viruses,” with unnecessary use only serving to make antibiotics more resilient and resistant.

“The more frequently antibiotics are used unnecessarily, the more resistant some forms of bacteria become to them.

That in turn leaves doctors increasingly powerless to fight life-threatening infections.”