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Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label infection. Show all posts

Friday, April 24, 2015

Health Care Workers' Hazard: Cloth Based Masked Face Masks

Infection in the workplace is now becoming a major concern as new epidemics of disease spread worldwide facilitated by the ever increasing global transportation network. The recent and urgent concerns over Flu, Ebola, Measles and Polio highlight the need to protect health workers.

A recent study published the British Medical Journal focuses on the inadequacy of current medical practices. The study of Clinical respiratory illness (CRI), influenza-like illness (ILI) and laboratory-confirmed the spread of respiratory virus infection and highlights the the problems with cloth face masks.

"We have provided the first clinical efficacy data of cloth masks, which suggest HCWs should not use cloth masks as protection against respiratory infection. Cloth masks resulted in significantly higher rates of infection than medical masks, and also performed worse than the control arm. The controls were HCWs who observed standard practice, which involved mask use in the majority, albeit with lower compliance than in the intervention arms. The control HCWs also used medical masks more often than cloth masks. When we analysed all mask-wearers including controls, the higher risk of cloth masks was seen for laboratory-confirmed respiratory viral infection."

Click here to read the entire report.
"A cluster randomised trial of cloth masks compared with medical masks in healthcare workers"
BMJ Open 2015;5:e006577 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006577

Saturday, May 3, 2014

CDC announces first case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus infection (MERS) in the United States

MERS case in traveler from Saudi Arabia hospitalized in Indiana

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was confirmed today in a traveler to the United States. This virus is relatively new to humans and was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012.
“We’ve anticipated MERS reaching the US, and we’ve prepared for and are taking swift action,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H.  “We’re doing everything possible with hospital, local, and state health officials to find people who may have had contact with this person so they can be evaluated as appropriate.  This case reminds us that we are all connected by the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink.  We can break the chain of transmission in this case through focused efforts here and abroad.”

On April 24, the patient traveled by plane from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to London, England then from London to Chicago, Illinois.  The patient then took a bus from Chicago to Indiana.  On the 27th, the patient began to experience respiratory symptoms, including shortness of breath, coughing, and fever. The patient went to an emergency department in an Indiana hospital on April 28th and was admitted on that same day. The patient is being well cared for and is isolated; the patient is currently in stable condition. Because of the patient’s symptoms and travel history, Indiana public health officials tested for MERS-CoV. The Indiana state public health laboratory and CDC confirmed MERS-CoV infection in the patient this afternoon.

“It is understandable that some may be concerned about this situation, but this first U.S. case of MERS-CoV infection represents a very low risk to the general public,” said Dr. Anne Schuchat, assistant surgeon general and director of CDC’s National Center for Immunizations and Respiratory Diseases.  In some countries, the virus has spread from person to person through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person. However, there is currently no evidence of sustained spread of MERS-CoV in community settings.

CDC and Indiana health officials are not yet sure how the patient became infected with the virus.  Exposure may have occurred in Saudi Arabia, where outbreaks of MERS-CoV infection are occurring. Officials also do not know exactly how many people have had close contact with the patient.
So far, including this U.S. importation, there have been 401 confirmed cases of MERS-CoV infection in 12 countries. To date, all reported cases have originated in six countries in the Arabian Peninsula.  Most of these people developed severe acute respiratory illness, with fever, cough, and shortness of breath; 93 people died. Officials do not know where the virus came from or exactly how it spreads. There is no available vaccine or specific treatment recommended for the virus.
“In this interconnected world we live in, we expected MERS-CoV to make its way to the United States,” said Dr. Tom Frieden, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  “We have been preparing since 2012 for this possibility."

Federal, state, and local health officials are taking action to minimize the risk of spread of the virus.  The Indiana hospital is using full precautions to avoid exposure within the hospital and among healthcare professionals and other people interacting with the patient, as recommended by CDC.
In July 2013, CDC posted checklists and resource lists for healthcare facilities and providers to assist with preparing to implement infection control precautions for MERS-CoV.

As part of the prevention and control measures, officials are reaching out to close contacts to provide guidance about monitoring their health.
While experts do not yet know exactly how this virus is spread, CDC advises Americans to help protect themselves from respiratory illnesses by washing hands often, avoiding close contact with people who are sick, avoid touching their eyes, nose and/or mouth with unwashed hands, and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces.

The largest reported outbreak to date occurred April through May 2013 in eastern Saudi Arabia and involved 23 confirmed cases in four healthcare facilities. At this time, CDC does not recommend anyone change their travel plans. The World Health Organization also has not issued Travel Health Warnings for any country related to MERS-CoV.  Anyone who develops fever and cough or shortness of breath within 14 day after traveling from countries in or near the Arabian Peninsula should see their doctor and let them know where they travelled.

For more information about MERS Co-V, please visit:
Middle East Respiratory Syndrome:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html

About Coronavirus:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/about/index.html

Frequently Asked MERS Questions and Answers:
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/faq.html

Indiana Department of Health
http://www.state.in.us/isdh/External

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Fungal Meningitis: One Year After the Outbreak

A year ago the medication induced infections were the focus of the US CDC as The New England Compounding Service drew national attention. Today's post is shared from the CDC.gov.

A year ago this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention activated its Emergency Operations Center as part of the response to the tragic outbreak of fungal meningitis linked to three contaminated lots of preservative-free methylprednisolone acetate (MPA) produced by the New England Compounding Center (NECC). As of October 23, 2013, there have been 751 cases of fungal meningitis and other infections associated with this outbreak; 64 of these patients have died. Since July 2013, one new case has been diagnosed.
This week, CDC has two papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, one describing the clinical aspects of the infections associated with this outbreak and the other summarizing the epidemiologic investigation. The clinical paper, focusing on the early stages of the outbreak, describes patients who experienced a wide variety of illnesses, including meningitis, stroke, arachnoiditis (inflammation of one of the membranes around the brain and spinal cord), and epidural or paraspinal infections which ranged in severity from very mild to life-threatening. The epidemiology paper finalizes the original preliminary report published by the New England Journal of Medicine and details the efforts undertaken by public health agencies to identify and stop the outbreak.
This...
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Friday, September 27, 2013

Antibiotic Resistant Threats in the US, 2013

Healthcare workers have something to worry about. Today's post is shared from the US CDC.

Threat Report 2013

This report, Antibiotic resistance threats in the United States, 2013 gives a first-ever snapshot of the burden and threats posed by the antibiotic-resistant germs having the most impact on human health
Each year in the United States, at least 2 million people become infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and at least 23,000 people die each year as a direct result of these infections. Many more people die from other conditions that were complicated by an antibiotic-resistant infection.
Antibiotic-resistant infections can happen anywhere. Data show that most happen in the general community; however, most deaths related to antibiotic resistance happen in healthcare settings such as hospitals and nursing homes.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

3 Ways Infections Become Compensable in Workmens Comp

Infections are nasty and sometimes fatal. Ill employees maybe entitled to collect workmens comp benefits for the treatment and residuals of an infection. Infections are considered communicable diseases and are contagious. There are 3 types of infections that be eligible for payment.


Infections that flow from a traumatic event are generally compensable. Even if there is a delay in seeking professional medical care the injured employee may be entitled to benefits. Sometimes the infections is dormant and does not become manifest for some time after the traumatic event that caused the injury. Preventative antibiotic treatment is sometimes recommended.


Some infections are contracted during treatment such as infection that are acquired during hospital stay. Those are called Hospital Acquired Infections  (HAI). These infection are expensive to treat and are a major concern to insurance carriers and government insurance programs such as Medicare. Medicare plans to impose economic penalties on hospitals for infections, ie. staph (MRSA),  that patient acquired during hospital stays.


A third type of infections are those that are the result of occupational accident and injuries. First responders and medical personnel  who suffer from exposure to meningitis, strep and HIV patients. These exposures may occur by simple contamination of the work area. In California legislation has been offered to establish a presumption that hospital employees infected on the job qualify for workers' compensation benefits.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.


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