Antibiotics: 5 Myths Debunked
An interesting article from Medscape, by Brad Spellberg, MD Myth 1: Humans invented antibiotics in the 20th century Myth 2: Inappropriate antibiotic use causes the development of resistance Myth 3: To prevent resistance, patients must complete every dose of antibiotics prescribed, even after they feel better Myth 4: When antibiotic resistance emerges, it is usually a consequence of new mutations at the site of infection Myth 5: Cidal antibiotics result in superior clinical outcomes and...
CIHI report on Measuring Patient Harm in Canadian Hospitals
1 in 18 Canadian hospital patients experience harm from preventable errors Governments, national and provincial organizations, individual health regions and hospitals are all working along with patients to improve safety in hospitals. Tracking and reporting harmful events is vital to improvement efforts. Historically, reporting has been mostly voluntary and focused on particular risks such as infections. There has not been a single measure that gives an overview of harm in Canadian...
This year’s flu strain stronger
From CBC.ca: The B.C. Centre for Disease Control says initial indications are this year's flu season is starting earlier than usual and the dominant strain will be stronger than last year's. Lead researcher Dr. Danuta Skowronski says, although it's impossible to forecast the flu season, an "unusually early number of outbreaks" of the influenza virus H3N2 has already been detected at long-term care facilities. Typically the flu season doesn't pick up until the end of November and peaks in late December, she says. This...
Rhinovirus vaccine research
Martin Moore, an associate professor at Emory University and a research scholar at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, has been working on developing a rhinovirus vaccine that has shown promising results in trials on macaques. The monkeys were able to produce antibodies against many types of rhinoviruses. Moore and his colleagues are now following up on those results with more research and hope to move soon to human trials. They’re not alone,...
PHSA Job Posting: IPAC Construction Specialist
The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) is recruiting for an Infection Protection and Control (IPAC) Construction Specialist. The position is Temporary Part-Time (0.50 FTE Until June 2019), and will be part of the BC Children & Women's (C&W) Redevelopment Project. The IPAC Construction Specialist has an active role in the prevention, surveillance and control of infections during construction, renovation and maintenance at the C&W site. In collaboration with the Corporate Director,...
FDA Safety Communication Update: Mycobacterium chimaera infections associated with 3T Heater-Cooler Systems
Update Oct 24th: You can also read Health Canada's recall alert on this. The FDA has updated its June 1, 2016 Safety Communication to provide new information about Mycobacterium chimaera (M. chimaera) infections associated with the use of the LivaNova PLC (formerly Sorin Group Deutschland GmbH) Stӧckert 3T Heater-Cooler in U.S. patients who have undergone cardiothoracic surgeries. This communication also contains updated recommendations to help prevent the spread of infection related...
Listeriosis Outbreak
Source: Vancouver Coastal Health [edited]: Public safety advisory for customers of Foody World Vancouver Coastal Health [VCH] is warning customers not to consume any produce or ready-to-eat foods made in-house at Foody World, at 3000 Sexsmith Road in Richmond, due to possible listeria contamination. So far at least 6 people have been hospitalized due to the illness. Potentially contaminated items include all ready-to-eat meat products such as BBQ pork and marinated meats, sushi,...