Are all hospital-acquired infections due to contaminated surfaces? It turns out that some infections - even those as the result of a procedure - are not due to contaminated surfaces, devices, or heath care workers. Sometimes a patient becomes infected by germs in their environment, but sometimes the infections stems from microorganisms in or on their own bodies. Today's post will explore both types of infections and the implications for hospital infection control.
After the hurdle of creating and distributing a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, the next greatest challenge is ensuring that at least 80-85% of the population receives the vaccine. This number, which ensures herd immunity that will stop the spread of the pandemic, seems like an impossible goal when recent surveys show that up to 50% of the population doesn't want to get the vaccine in the first place. In order to help get enough people vaccinated, we have to understand the reasons for vaccine hesitancy and provide information to assuage concerns. Today we will look at 6 of the most common reasons folks are reluctant to get a vaccine for COVID-19.
Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACHs) are facilities serving only patients with serious medical conditions who need at least 25 days of ICU-level care. They evolved from the TB sanitoriums and other specialized treatment facilities of the past, and have experienced significant growth over the past decade. In today’s post, we’ll explore the purpose of these new medical facilities, as well as the implications for infection control when serving these high-risk populations.
Elderly patients needing support for daily activities present unique challenges to the long-term care facilities who care for them. Today's post will conclude our series on nursing home facilities by focusing on the most common infections faced by their residents.
As we age, our bodies go through changes that can make us more susceptible to disease, injury, and infection. Individuals who experience the greatest number of health issues as they age may find that a nursing home or assisted living facility provides the best medical support. Unfortunately, that then places those individuals in a subset of our aging population who are at greatest risk for infection. Today's post will explore how age and infection risk are related.
The Wall Street Journal addressed the growing concern over infection control in America's nursing homes, citing research from a recent paper from the Columbia School of Nursing. The article summarizes the four key obstacles to effective infection control in nursing homes: Overuse of antibiotics, inadequate staff/training, lack of resources, and a lack of data/surveillance. In this series of posts, we will explore the nursing home landscape, investigating the origin of and solution to each of those four obstacles. Today we start with an overview of nursing homes.
In the fight against COVID-19, there are many heroes. From healthcare workers to grocery store cashiers, so many people have worked hard, and taken risks, to keep our lives safe and as normal as possible. Some heroes work behind the scenes, however, and sometimes don't get the recognition they deserve. One of those heroes is Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, an immunologist whose area of expertise made her the perfect person to lead the team that developed the Moderna vaccine. In today's post, we'll profile this exceptional scientist and leader.
Discussions about healthcare often involve the expression "continuum of care." Why is this description becoming more common? What can we learn about the state of healthcare today by unpacking this term? Today's post will explore what is meant by this popular phrase.
A recent federal report and subsequent media coverage has revealed an urgent gap in the supply chain for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine: lipid nanoparticles. Learning about this critical component is an excellent way to learn more about how the mRNA vaccine created by Pfizer and Moderna work. In today's post, we'll look at this important ingredient and steps being taken to make sure production is ramped up.
After considering a biocide's efficacy, toxicity, kill mechanisms, and bacterial resistance, one must also consider its cost. As with all criteria, it is an issue of balance. If it is an exceptionally effective, broad-spectrum biocide, then a higher cost is tolerable. Add in other benefits and a higher cost becomes even more reasonable. When it comes to silver and copper, the issue of cost in terms of raw materials is obvious. But to do our due diligence, we must look beyond just the raw materials and also look at cost vs. efficacy(and resulting return on investment from additional impact) to see the winner in a clearer light.
