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Content about Infectious diseases

September 22, 2010
Clean Uniforms Can Help Hospitals ‘Cure’ $30 Billion in Infection-Related Overhead, Supplier Says

WILMINGTON, Mass. — If you want to see a sickly expression on a hospital administrator’s face, point out that the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) says hospital-acquired infections cause more than $30 billion a year in needless healthcare-industry overhead which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, conservatively reflects 1.7 million infections and 99,000 associated deaths annually.

August 13, 2010
Laundry Under Greater Scrutiny As Hospitals Shore Up Against Infections (Part 2)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) strike 2 million Americans annually, killing 99,000—more people die from HAI than car accidents and homicides combined.

“The statistics are pretty brutal,” says Linda Homan, RN, CIC, a longtime infection-control professional who works for Ecolab Healthcare’s Clinical and Professional Services. “They really do speak for themselves.”

CHAIN OF INFECTION

March 6, 2009
Use PPE When Sorting, Plus Wash Hands Regularly to Prevent Spreading MRSA (Part 1)

“MRSA is a four-letter ‘word’ no healthcare worker wants to hear. What exactly is it? How does it spread, and how can it affect my laundry operation? Does my staff need to take any special precautions? Should I be concerned about my workers unknowingly taking it home to their families?”

Textiles: Elizabeth Easter, Ph.D., University of Kentucky, Lexington, Ky.

March 21, 2008
CDC Probes Needlesticks, Possible HIV Infections Among Laundry Workers

ATLANTA – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating as many as four more potential cases of laundry and housekeeping workers infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, as a result of needlestick injuries they suffered at work.
  

November 9, 2007
Contain and Confine Still Guiding Principle of Infection Control

The infection-causing bacteria known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA, or “mer-sa” for short) has been a nemesis of infection control professionals (ICP) and healthcare laundry managers for decades. Now, it’s caught the public’s attention and is making headlines across the nation.