| Email Article | Print |
APIC launches first national C. difficile prevalence study
March 24, 2008The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) today announced a detailed strategy to combat Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD). The initiative begins with the first national prevalence study to gain a better understanding of the spread of this virulent pathogen.
C. difficile is a life-threatening bacterium that causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions such as colitis and is frequently associated with prolonged antibiotic use. CDAD is most commonly contracted by the elderly and those with recent exposure to hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare institutions. Over the past several years, a more toxic strain of C. difficile has emerged causing outbreaks in healthcare facilities worldwide.
"We are concerned by reports of increasing infection rates and severity of CDAD," said APIC Chief Executive Officer Kathy L. Warye. "Not only does it lead to longer hospital stays, which result in higher healthcare costs, but deaths from C. difficile infections also are on the rise. Because the true magnitude of this infection is unknown, our objective is to provide the first national estimate of C. difficile infection in inpatients in U.S. healthcare facilities."
The APIC Research Foundation C. difficile Prevalence Study will be conducted May 1 to May 23, 2008. More than 5,000 healthcare facilities are being invited to participate by providing a one-day snapshot of C. difficile infections within their institution.
Following the survey, APIC will develop a Guide to the Elimination of C. difficile, including strategies for controlling transmission as well as an educational Webinar series. The Association also will hold a conference in late 2008, featuring results of the prevalence study, along with the latest science, epidemiology and best practices for the elimination of C. difficile transmission.
"Following our positive experience in having taken a very comprehensive approach to MRSA in 2007, APIC will launch a similar aggressive fight against C. difficile in 2008," said Warye. "APIC will lead a national effort to arm infection prevention professionals with the comprehensive tools necessary to eradicate this virulent pathogen and reduce C. difficile infections. Prevention efforts are crucial because our arsenal of effective treatment agents is thin, and the organism is rapidly developing resistance."
Association for Professionals in Infection Control
The APIC Research Foundation C. difficile Prevalence Study will be conducted May 1 to May 23, 2008. More than 5,000 healthcare facilities are being invited to participate by providing a one-day snapshot of C. difficile infections within their institution.
Following the survey, APIC will develop a Guide to the Elimination of C. difficile, including strategies for controlling transmission as well as an educational Webinar series. The Association also will hold a conference in late 2008, featuring results of the prevalence study, along with the latest science, epidemiology and best practices for the elimination of C. difficile transmission.
"Following our positive experience in having taken a very comprehensive approach to MRSA in 2007, APIC will launch a similar aggressive fight against C. difficile in 2008," said Warye. "APIC will lead a national effort to arm infection prevention professionals with the comprehensive tools necessary to eradicate this virulent pathogen and reduce C. difficile infections. Prevention efforts are crucial because our arsenal of effective treatment agents is thin, and the organism is rapidly developing resistance."
Association for Professionals in Infection Control
Epidemiology News and Current Epidemiology Events RSSStudy finds link between birth order and asthma symptoms
Among four year-olds attending Head Start programs in New York City, those who had older siblings were more likely to experience respiratory symptoms including an episode of wheezing in the past year than those who were oldest or only children.
University of Leicester to lead audit of adults with autism
The University of Leicester is leading on a national study to calculate the number of adults with autism, it has been announced today.
Too much or too little weight gain poses risks to pregnant mothers, babies
Women who gain more or less than recommended amounts of weight during pregnancy are likely to increase the risk of problems for both themselves and their child, according to a new report by the RTI International-University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Evidence-based Practice Center.
McGill study links breastfeeding to increased intelligence
The largest randomized study of breastfeeding ever conducted reports that breastfeeding raises children's IQs and improves their academic performance, a McGill researcher and his team have found.
1 in 10 children using cough, cold medications
Researchers from Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center have found that approximately one in ten U.S. children uses one or more cough and cold medications during a given week.
Second genetic link to weight and obesity
A study of 90,000 people has uncovered new genetic variants that influence fat mass, weight and risk of obesity. The variants act in addition to the recently described variants of the FTO gene: adults carrying variants in both genes are, on average, 3.8 kg (or 8.5 lb) heavier.
Gene sequence that can make half of us fatter is discovered
A gene sequence linked to an expanding waist line, weight gain and a tendency to develop type 2 diabetes has been discovered as part of a study published today in the journal Nature Genetics.
Mental disorders in parents linked to autism in children
Parents of children with autism were roughly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for a mental disorder, such as schizophrenia, than parents of other children, according to an analysis of Swedish birth and hospital records by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher and colleagues in the U.S. and Europe.
Salk study links diabetes and Alzheimer's disease
Diabetic individuals have a significantly higher risk of developing Alzheimer's disease but the molecular connection between the two remains unexplained. Now, researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies identified the probable molecular basis for the diabetes - Alzheimer's interaction.
U of M study: Online intervention paramount for reducing HIV in high-risk population
Young Internet-using men who have sex with men AND who meet their sexual partners both online and offline have greater numbers of partners, appear more likely to contract HIV, and report higher substance use rates than those who meet their partners exclusively online or offline, according to new research at the University of Minnesota.
More Epidemiology News Articles
 | Scared to Death: From BSE to Global Warming: Why Scares are Costing Us the Earth by Christopher Booker, Richard North |
 | The Autoimmune Epidemic: Bodies Gone Haywire in a World Out of Balance--and the Cutting-Edge Science that Promises Hope by Donna Jackson Nakazawa |
 | The Secret History of the War on Cancer by Devra Davis |
 | Modern Epidemiology by Kenneth J Rothman, Sander Greenland, Timothy L Lash |
 | Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity |
 | The Coming Plague: Newly Emerging Diseases in a World Out of Balance by Laurie Garrett |
 | Epidemiology, Updated Edition: With STUDENT CONSULT Online Access by Leon Gordis |
 | Infections and Inequalities: The Modern Plagues by Paul Farmer |
 | Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV by American Psychiatric Association |
 | Intuitive Biostatistics by Harvey Motulsky |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |