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Some antibiotics may worsen MRSA

A new study published in Cell Host & Microbe found that treating MRSA with certain first-line antibiotics can make MRSA infections worse. The research team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in California  found that in laboratory mice, treatment with antibiotics called beta-lactams - which are similar to methicillin - caused the MRSA bacteria to build inflammatory cell walls that damage tissues. Beta-lactam antibiotics kill normal staph by neutralizing their enzymes that make cell walls. However, the researchers found...

NY Microbiome Exhibition

Taking a Christmas vacation to New York? Be sure to take your kids to see The Secret World Inside You, an exhibition of the human microbiome at the American Museum of Natural History. You can read the full story about the exhibition on the New York Times website....

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Canada Communicable Disease Report: Enteric outbreak surveillance in British Columbia

A paper on Enteric outbreak surveillance in British Columbia, 2009-2013 has been published in the latest CCDR; the co-authors are from the BC Centre for Disease Control; School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia; Vancouver Coastal Health Authority; Fraser Health Authority; Interior Health Authority; Vancouver Island Health Authority; and Northern Health Authority. You can read the full article here....

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Technology award: cellphone sanitizer for hospitals

A group of Queen’s University graduates won a major innovation prize for a device designed to decontaminate personal electronic devices. The CleanSlate company, which was named one of 11 winners of the 43North entrepreneur and startup awards, won more than $650,000 (US$500,000). The CleanSlate technology uses ultraviolet light to clean the surfaces of cellphones, tablets and medical devices. It is meant to kill bacteria that have developed resistance to traditional treatment, including...

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Paper pubished on Canadian surveillance of EV-D68

Today the BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) in collaboration with each of the local health authorities in BC and partners in Alberta, Quebec and nationally at the Public Health Agency of  Canada published a paper in the peer-reviewed journal EuroSurveillance describing epidemic features of enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in Canada during the fall of 2014. For the full publication (open access), see: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=21283. For a synopsis, see below. Why and how the investigation...

IPAC Survey for PHSA employees

PHSA’s Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) team would like to hear what you think of the services they provide.  Their survey is open to all employees of the agencies they serve: BC Women’s Hospital BC Children’s Hospital and Sunny Hill BC Cancer Agency (all centers) BC Centre for Disease Control BC Mental Health and Addictions BC Emergency Health Services The survey is completely anonymous, and takes about 5 minutes to complete. You could also win a Starbucks gift...

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PICNet Co-Directors Lead Pilot Study

NEWS RELEASE from Genome BC Are self-disinfecting surfaces the “Midas” touch for reducing hospital infections? Pilot study examines environmental and genomic solution for healthcare associated infections Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are a major burden on patients and healthcare systems worldwide.  Despite strict hygiene practices and other preventative measures in hospitals there are an estimated 220,000 cases with 8,000 deaths per year in Canada. Costs associated with HAIs are estimated to be over $15...