Sometimes a new more-powerful antibiotic is right under your feet. Dirt may be the answer to a new class of antibiotics scientists have named malacidins. In something as simple and everyday as dirt, researchers at Rockefeller University in New York, have found a new antibiotic that shows promise for wiping out some of our toughest […]
Malacidins: Finding New Antibiotics in the Dirt Read More »
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), handwashing with soap can reduce respiratory illnesses by more than 20% and diarrheal illnesses by up to 58%. It’s commonly thought that women are better at washing their hands than men, and published research seems to support this. The real question is: Why? What about women, from their experiences
Why Are Women Better at Washing Their Hands Than Men? Read More »
My sordid past with healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) began years ago when my cousin caught an HAI in a hospital emergency room. He had originally gone to the ER for stitches after falling off of his bike, but a few weeks after his visit, he started to feel ill. When he returned to the hospital, the
How Vitalacy Uses AI to Enhance Patient Safety in Healthcare Read More »
Golden-era science fiction dreams met widespread practical application in 2017 as machine learning increasingly became capable of performance in a production environment. From factories to finance, artificial intelligence and deep learning are leveraged to quickly analyze and act on big data, and the healthcare industry isn’t immune to these upgrades. In fact, the intersection between
The Intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare Read More »
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are the most common complication people develop during their time in a hospital. In the developed world, 7 out of every 100 inpatients catch some kind of infection from their environment, while HAIs are the principal reason for 1 out of every 25 hospital admissions. Worse, facility-caused infections lead to 99,000 preventable
Why Do Healthcare-Associated Infections Persist? Read More »
For more than a decade, the Joint Commission has stressed good hand hygiene as a condition of accreditation at its 21,000 associated healthcare facilities. Despite this, the Commission reports that proper procedures – by which they mean handwashing practices endorsed by either the CDC or the World Health Organization – are observed only around half
How the New Joint Commission Mandate Impacts Hospital Hygiene Read More »
What goes down the drain in hospitals is not pretty – Learn how hospital environments could be “potential reservoirs of bacteria”. The rise of superbugs has long been an issue, but perhaps we haven’t realized how quickly they are able to spread in the most unexpected places, until now. A recent report unveils how hospitals
Superbugs in hospital pipes – Is anyone really safe? Read More »
It’s no secret that sometimes animals are inadvertently responsible for passing on dangerous—possibly even fatal—illnesses and infections to humans. From tiny ticks carrying Lyme disease to cuddly cats whose litter boxes can spread toxoplasmosis, it seems like any animal or insect can go from friend to foe in an instant. So, it might come as
How Animals Are Helping Hospitals With Infection Control Read More »
If the word “superbug” doesn’t send chills down your spine, it should. These antibiotic-resistant bacteria are growing both in number and in strength. Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a list of the 12 most serious superbugs humanity is now finding itself up against. The WHO divided these 12 bacteria into three
WHO: Superbugs Are ‘The Greatest Threat to Human Health Read More »
Before hospital-acquired infections struck three of their family members in a 10-month period—and ultimately took the life of their son, Joshua, in 2006—Armando and Victoria Nahum had no idea how much of an issue this very serious health threat is. Today, they are fighting to raise much-needed awareness about infection prevention and patient advocacy through
The Safe Care Campaign: Promoting Infection Prevention Awareness Read More »
Get notified about new articles
