Influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel is a professional and ethical responsibility and non-compliance with healthcare facility policies regarding vaccination should not be tolerated, according to a position paper released today by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

Patients may be at greater risk of developing invasive Staphylococcus aureus infections, following cardiothoracic and neurosurgical procedures compared with orthopedic or plastic surgical procedures according to a study published in the July issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

An assessment of nearly 70 ambulatory surgical centers in three states found that lapses in infection control were common, including for practices such as hand hygiene, injection and medication safety, and equipment reprocessing, according to a study in the June 9 issue of JAMA.

A recently published article on the care and maintenance of ccentral venous access devices describes the benefits of intraluminal protection connectors for preventing catheter-related bloodstream infections (CR-BSI).

Ingenix and Health Language, Inc. (HLI) have launched the Ingenix
Global Code Manager, a solution that translates between the ICD-9 and
ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and
Related Health Problems 10th Revision) medical coding systems – a
capability that will help health care organizations implement ICD-10 by
October 1, 2013, as required by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS).

Clostridium difficile infections (CDIs) are quickly becoming a
significant issue in healthcare based upon recent studies. Preliminary
data collected from nursing homes and highlighted in a Supplementary
Pennsylvania Patient Safety Advisory shows that almost 40 percent of
gastrointestinal infections reported are CDIs.

BioVigil LLC has released the second generation of the BioVigil hand
hygiene monitoring system. The innovative system enables hospitals to
more effectively combat Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) by
dramatically increasing hand hygiene compliance among healthcare
workers.

One cause of the rampant international hospital-infection epidemic may
be the “inadvertent exposure” of hospital housekeepers and transporters
to antibiotic-resistant “Superbugs” such as MRSA, saysTeleTracking
Technologies CEO Anthony Sanzo.