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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
The American Medical Association has released a statement on the United States v. Skrmetti Supreme Court case. News came this Wednesday that the Supreme Court ruled to uphold a Tennessee law that “bars doctors from providing gender-affirming care including puberty blockers, hormones, and surgical procedures for trans minors in the state,” according to Time.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
The FDA has approved Gilead’s Yeztugo medication as “pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV in adults and adolescents.”This approval makes Yeztugo “the first and only twice-yearly option available in the U.S. for people who need or want PrEP.” Over 99.9% of participants who received the drug in trials remained HIV negative. The first PrEP medication was approved in the U.S. in 2012.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
Findings from Virginia’s Carilion Clinic health system will be delivered at APIC today regarding the increase in size of their IPC team and the subsequent drop in various infection rates. Carilion Clinic had only eleven infection preventionists (IPs) “for its eight-hospital system of more than 1,000 licensed beds” in August 2020. By 2023, “Carilion more than doubled its IP staff from 11 to 24 full-timers,” with a marked decrease in various healthcare-associated infections (HAI) following.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
A CDC scientist leading the team that tracks respiratory infections “abruptly resigned yesterday, based on concerns that the data won’t be used objectively or with scientific rigor following recent changes to the CDC’s vaccine advisory group.” CIDRAP has the news.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
A new study of over 20,000 children found that “those who had early exposure to antibiotics had higher risk of infections and antibiotic use later in childhood.” CIDRAP has the news. The study found that “children with early antibiotic exposure had a significantly higher risk of several types of infections and antibiotic use compared with those who had no early exposure, with the highest risk observed in children who received antibiotics during the first week of life.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
Research that will be presented at the APIC conference in Phoenix today shows that the infection prevention and control (IPC) team at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital prevented a measles outbreak among its patients and staff. The IPC team learned of a positive measles case in a migrant shelter in Chicago, where the hospital in question is. They then “quickly established strategies to protect patients, visitors, and staff.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
Data suggesting that health inequities are a factor in higher rates of certain kinds of infections will be presented today at the APIC annual conference in Phoenix. Specifically, Kaiser Permanente will be presenting data showing that a patient whose first language is Spanish has a higher risk of getting an infection in the hospital.
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1 week ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has posted an open letter urging payers and insurers to “continue making the COVID-19 vaccine available to pregnant people without undue utilization management or cost-sharing requirements.” The letter emphasizes that all aspects of obstetric and gynecologic care should “be grounded in the best available scientific evidence,” which is even more important given “the historic gaps in research, investment, and support for women’s health.”...
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2 weeks ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
Church & Dwight Co. are voluntarily recalling all lots within expiry of Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs, Zicam Nasal AllClear Swabs, and Orajel Baby Teething Swabs. The FDA has the announcement. The products are being recalled “due to potential microbial contamination identified as fungi in cotton swab components.
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2 weeks ago | 
hpnonline.com | Matt Mackenzie
A new study led by researchers at UNC found that a “newly-approved treatment for C. diff. infection, called fecal microbiota spores, may be associated with a particularly harmful rebound of infection.”C. diff. is one of the most common “bad” bacteria that can enter the digestive tract when we take antibiotics. About 500,000 Americans contract the infection each year, “especially those who are immunocompromised or over the age of 65.”Fecal microbiota transplant has been used as a treatment for C. diff.
