The speed of virus spread and the use of quaternary ammonium compounds to reduce spread

WASHINGTON, DC – September 8, 2014 – Using tracer viruses, researchers found that
contamination of just a single doorknob or table top results in the spread of viruses throughout office buildings, hotels, and health care facilities. Within 2 to 4 hours, the virus could be detected on 40 to 60 percent of workers and visitors in the facilities and commonly touched objects, according to research presented at the 54th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (ICAAC), an infectious disease meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

There is a simple solution, though, says Charles Gerbaof the University of Arizona, Tucson, who presented the study.

“Using disinfectants containing quaternary ammonium compounds (QUATS) registered by EPA as effective against viruses like norovirus and flu, along with hand hygiene, reduced virus spread by 80 to 99 percent,” he says.

Norovirus is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Each year, it causes an estimated 19-21 million illnesses and contributes to 56,000-71,000 hospitalizations and 570-800 deaths. Touching surfaces or objects contaminated with norovirus then putting your fingers in your mouth is a common source of infection.

In the study, Gerba and his colleagues used bacteriophage MS-2 as a surrogate for the human norovirus, as it is similar in shape, size and resistance to disinfectants. The phage was placed on 1 to 2 commonly touched surfaces (door knob or table top) at the beginning of the day in office buildings, conference room and a health care facility. After various periods of time (2 to 8 hours)  they sampled 60 to 100 fomites, surfaces capable of carrying infectious organisms (light switches, bed rails, table tops, countertops, push buttons, coffee pots handles, sink tap handles, door knobs, phones and computer equipment), for the phages.

“Within 2 to 4 hours between 40 to 60% of the fomites sampled were contaminated with virus,” says Gerba.
In the intervention phase cleaning personal and employees were provided with QUATS disinfectant containing wipes and instructed on proper use (use of at least once daily). The number of fomites on which virus was detected was reduced by 80% or greater and the concentration of virus reduced by 99% or more.

PureWorks, an EPA-registered quat-based formulation is formulated to kill norovirus on solid surfaces. It is available in lotion, spray, soap or foam formulations.

“The results shown that viral contamination of fomites in facilities occurs quickly, and that a simple intervention can greatly help to reduce exposure to viruses,” says Gerba.

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One more way patients are injured or killed by the healthcare system

CDC Report: Patients Harmed After Health Care Providers Steal Patients' Drugs Impact of Drug Diversion Documented in Mayo Clinic Proceedings


Rochester, MN, June 2, 2014

When prescription medicines are stolen or used illegally, it is called drug diversion. One aspect of drug diversion that is not well recognized involves health care providers who steal controlled substances for their personal use. A report authored by experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) - published today in Mayo Clinic Proceedings - outlines outbreaks of infections that have occurred as a result of health care providers stealing or tampering with their patients' medications. These outbreaks revealed gaps in prevention, detection, and response to drug diversion.

“Patient harm stemming from diverting injectable drugs can include patients not obtaining adequate pain management, exposure to substandard care from an impaired provider, and exposure to life-threatening infections,” according to study co-authors Melissa K. Schaefer, MD, and Joseph F. Perz, DrPH, of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, CDC, Atlanta, GA.

Over the past 10 years, outbreak investigations related to health care provider drug diversion have documented more than 100 infections and nearly 30,000 patients potentially exposed to bloodborne or bacterial pathogens. The frequency with which these events have been detected appears to be increasing.

The review identified six outbreaks within hospital settings located in eight states over a 10-year period beginning in 2004. Implicated health care professionals included three technicians and three nurses. In four of these outbreaks the implicated health care professional was infected with hepatitis C virus and served as the source of disease transmission to patients. Two other outbreaks resulted from improper drug handling by drug-diverting health care professionals infecting patients with bloodstream bacterial infections.

“The outbreaks we have identified illustrate some of the devastating and wide-reaching impacts of drug diversion in US health care settings,” note Dr. Schaefer and Dr. Perz. “Health care facilities should ensure that patients safely receive medications as prescribed. This effort includes having systems in place to prevent drug diversion as well as developing protocols for early detection and appropriate response if, despite safeguards, diversion does occur.”

To prevent diversion, health care facilities should enforce strong narcotics security measures and maintain active monitoring systems. Appropriate response when diversion is suspected or identified includes prompt reporting to enforcement agencies and assessment of harm to patients, including assessment of possible infection risks.

“This report serves notice that all health care facilities that house controlled substances or other drugs of abuse must have effective systems in place that deter drug diversion,” comment Keith H. Berge, MD, and William L. Lanier, MD, Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, in an accompanying editorial. “Further, those facilities must be able to quickly and effectively investigate when a drug diversion is suspected in an effort to limit the number of patients potentially exposed to harm. The increasing incidence of drug diversion makes it mandatory that drug control be improved.”

CDC provides several important resources for health care providers devoted to drug diversion:
---

Notes for editors

“Outbreaks of Infections Associated With Drug Diversion by US Health Care Personnel,” by Melissa K. Schaefer, MD, and Joseph F. Perz, DrPH (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.04.007).

Editorial: “Bloodstream Infection Outbreaks Related to Opioid-Diverting Health Care Workers: A Cost-Benefit Analysis of Prevention and Detection Programs,” by Keith H. Berge, MD, and William L. Lanier, MD (DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2014.04.010).


Both appear online (openly available) in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in advance of Volume 89, Issue 7 (July 2014), published by Elsevier.

Full text of the articles is available to credentialed journalists upon request. Contact Rachael Zaleski at +1 215 239 3658 or mcpmedia@elsevier.com to obtain copies. To view an accompanying video presented by Dr. Joseph F. Perz go to http://youtu.be/-g2wGW1NN6g.

Journalists wishing to interview Dr. Schaefer or Dr. Perz should contact Melissa Brower, Public Affairs Specialist, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at +1 404 639 4718, +1 404 903 0241 (mobile), or mbrower@cdc.gov. Journalists may contact Dr. Berge directly at berge.keith@mayo.edu.

The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

About Mayo Clinic Proceedings

The flagship journal of Mayo and one of the premier peer-reviewed clinical journals in general medicine, Mayo Clinic Proceedings is among the most widely read and highly cited scientific publications for physicians, with a circulation of approximately 125,000. While the journal is sponsored by Mayo Clinic, it welcomes submissions from authors worldwide, publishing articles that focus on clinical medicine and support the professional and educational needs of its readers.

About Mayo Clinic

Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit worldwide leader in medical care, research, and education for people from all walks of life. For more information visit www.mayoclinic.org/about and www.mayoclinic.org/news.

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading provider of information solutions that enhance the performance of science, health, and technology professionals, empowering them to make better decisions, deliver better care, and sometimes make groundbreaking discoveries that advance the boundaries of knowledge and human progress. Elsevier provides web-based, digital solutions — among them ScienceDirect, Scopus, Elsevier Research Intelligence, and ClinicalKey — and publishes nearly 2,200 journals, including The Lancet and Cell, and over 25,000 book titles, including a number of iconic reference works.

The company is part of Reed Elsevier Group PLC, a world leading provider of professional information solutions in the Science, Medical, Legal and Risk and Business sectors, which is jointly owned by Reed Elsevier PLC and Reed Elsevier NV. The ticker symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

Media contact

Rachael Zaleski
Elsevier
+1 215 239 3658
mcpmedia@elsevier.com



Where is the best place to meet new prospects?

Go to places where people are spending money to improve themselves. Makes sense.

So where would you find places like this? Here is a starter list.

* Night school and continuing education classes. People are spending money to learn new skills to enhance their careers.

* Health clubs. People are spending money to improve their bodies.

* Investment lectures. Real estate seminars and stock-investing seminars come to mind.

* Fun runs and marathons. People are competitive and understand that they have to invest time in training before they can expect the result.

Fishermen have it right. If you want to go fishing, go where the fish are.

Campaign For Nutrition: "Canaries In A Coal Mine"

A great article on Dr. Joel Wallach and what he has accomplished in the world of research into human nutrition and disease prevention. Good job Jeremy.



Campaign For Nutrition: "Canaries In A Coal Mine":       One of the earliest warning systems for coal miners was to take a Canary with them into the mines because they could easi...

Hospital Stays Result in Over 720,000 Infections Yearly

Hospital Stays Result in Over 720,000 Infections Yearly

By By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer March 26, 2014 2:07 PM

About 1 in 25 hospitalized patients in the United States has an infection related to their hospital stay, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that highlight the need for continued efforts to prevent such infections.

In 2011, an estimated 648,000 patients had at least one infection they aquired in a hospital, resulting in about 722,000 hospital-related infections for that year, according to a new report. On any given day, 4 percent of hospitalized patients had at least one hospital-related infection, and as many as 1 in 9 died from their infection, the report found.

The most common infections acquired in hospitals were pneumonia (about 22 percent of all infections), surgical site infections after an operation (22 percent), gastrointestinal infections (17 percent) and urinary tract infections (13 percent), according to the report, published today (March 26) in the New England Journal of Medicine. 

The most common microbes that caused these infections were the bacteria Clostridium difficile (12 percent of infections), the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus (11 percent) and the bacteria Klebsiella (10 percent).

Still, some progress has been made in preventing such health care-associated infections in recent years, according to a second CDC report, also released today.

Between 2008 and 2012, there was a 44 percent decrease in bloodstream infections related to catheters placed into patient's veins (known as central lines), and a 20 percent decrease in infections related to certain surgical procedures. But there was only a 2 percent decrease in C. difficile infections acquired in hospitals between 2011 and 2012, and a 3 percent increase in urinary tract infections related to catheters between 2009 and 2012.

"As a nation, we're moving in the right direction but there's a great deal of work to be done," Dr. Michael Bell, deputy director of CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, told reporters today.

Health officials are using the information in the new reports to identify areas and facilities that need to improve in preventing certain hospital-related infections, and then targeting those areas, Bell said.

Programs to prevent health care-associated infections have traditionally focused on infections tied to devices placed in the body, such as catheters and central lines, but the New England Journal of Medicine report found that more than half (52.6 percent) of infections are not associated with devices or surgical procedures. Instead, they may be related to other factors, such as antibiotic misuse.

"This finding should expand the public health focus to include these other types of infections," and develop effective prevention measures for them, the researchers said.

Earlier this month, the CDC issued a renewed call for appropriate use of antibiotics in hospitals, because improper use of these medications can increase the risk of infections with C. difficile.

Patients can also take steps to help protect themselves from hospital infections, Bell said. Patients or their family members can ask their health care providers whether they've washed their hands before caring for the patient, Bell said. And if the patient has a catheter, they can ask when it will be taken out, and ask again if it is not removed on time, Bell said.

"It's hard, but you have to ask questions," Bell said. "The entire medical team wants you to get better," and such questions can be a helpful reminder, he said.

Follow Rachael Rettner @RachaelRettner. Follow Live Science @livescience, Facebook & Google+. Original article on Live Science.