H1N1 picks up steam one week before vaccine becomes available
Fox News
Just one week before the first batch of vaccine becomes available, the H1N1 flu is barreling across the country like a runaway freight train. According to the most recent information available from U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , which is from last week, 26 states have reported widespread influenza activity, 11 states have reported regional influenza activity, and 12 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico reported local influenza activity. One state reported just "sporadic" activity.More

APIC urges states to proclaim international infection prevention week, Oct. 18-24, 2009
Infection Control Today
To bring greater attention to the critical need to protect patients and the public from the risk of healthcare-associated infections, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), in collaboration with 3M Health Care, is urging nationwide recognition of International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW) Oct. 18-24, 2009. Through the theme "Infection prevention is everyone's business," APIC is calling upon all 50 states and Congress to issue proclamations recognizing IIPW 2009.More

RFID helps York improve patient safety, satisfaction
RFID Journal
Wellspan Health's York Hospital located in York, Pa., is employing a Wi-Fi-based real-time location system (RTLS) provided by AeroScout to better manage assets at its 580-bed facility. The system is the result of a cooperative effort between the hospital's biomedical engineering, emergency and transportation departments, which all state they are benefiting from knowing where their critical medical equipment is located.More

Use of hand sanitizer soars with concern over swine flu
The Baltimore Sun
Hand sanitizer has grown into a more than $112 million-a-year industry in the United States, and sales have been rising, much of it due to the swine flu pandemic. With the mantra "wash your hands" being practically shouted from the rooftops - President Barack Obama has encouraged it, while Sesame Street's Elmo is sharing the message in public service announcements - many people are using alcohol-based sanitizer as a quick and convenient alternative to good old soap and water.More

Good hospital design is good medicine
The Toronto Star
Hospital architecture can make you sick. This shouldn't be the case, and admittedly things are starting to change, but no one goes to hospital to admire the scenery. Too bad. It turns out that a room with a view is a good way to help patients recover. Let them see sunshine, blue sky and greenery, and their spirits lift. And so the opportunity to build a new health-care facility in Toronto represents a rare chance to design a building that brings architecture into the healing process. More

C. Difficile hypervirulence genes identified
Medical News Today
Five genetic regions have been identified that are unique to the most virulent strain of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile), the hospital superbug. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Genome Biology studied the genome of the bacterium, looking for genes relating to motility, antibiotic resistance and toxicity.More

Nurses test hand-hygiene monitors
South Carolina Now
Registered nurse Rhonda Williamson likes to think she cleans her hands with sanitizer every time she interacts with a patient. But in case she forgets, a monitor dangling from her neck reminds her. Williamson and other nurses of VCU Medical Center's Main Hospital in Richmond, Va., are testing a credit card-sized wireless monitor worn like a badge that emits an audible alert if they enter a patient’s room without cleaning their hands. It uses Breathalyzer-type technology to detect the presence of alcohol, the main ingredient in hand sanitizers.More

Green Bay hospital builds a "living roof"
WBAY-TV
A new green space is under construction. It's goal is to help people get well. It's called a living roof, and St. Mary's Hospital Medical Center will be the only hospital in the area with one. More than 22,000 square feet of gardens will sit above the hospital's new cancer center. The hospital hopes when the garden opens later this winter, it will provide a peaceful place for patients and families. More