The current Ebola outbreak is centered on three countries in West Africa: Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, although there is the potential for further spread to neighboring African countries. Ebola does not pose a significant risk to the U.S. public.
Standard, contact, and droplet precautions are recommended for management of hospitalized patients with known or suspected Ebola hemorrhagic fever (Ebola HF), also referred to as Ebola Viral Disease (EVD) (See Table below).
The prevention of Ebola HF presents many challenges. Because it is still unknown how exactly people are infected with Ebola HF, there are few established primary prevention measures. When cases of the disease do appear, there is increased risk of transmission within health care settings.
Sure, you’re spraying on insect repellent when you’re going to be spending time outside, but are you reapplying it when it wears off? Are your outdoor workers?
The prevalence of infectious diseases, such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, SARS and avian flu, have raised the concern of hospital personnel over the possibility of acquiring such infections. Healthcare workers (HCWs) in or outside hospitals who have contact with patients, body fluids, or specimens may easily acquire infections from or transmit infections to patients, other personnel, or loved ones.
-But OSHA can't issue fines to a government agency
January 22, 2014
Workers at a Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in Oregon were potentially exposed to infectious diseases and sharps injuries, according to OSHA inspections conducted at the facility in April as part of a Local Emphasis Program. The agency has issued a notice of unsafe and unhealthful working conditions for 17 violations found at the VA's White City Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics facility.
OSHA has launched a new educational Web resource which has extensive materials to help hospitals prevent worker injuries, assess workplace safety needs, enhance safe patient handling programs, and implement safety and health management systems. The materials include fact books, self-assessments and best practice guides.
New CDC guidelines limit antibiotics for common infections in children
November 22, 2013
The excessive and incorrect use of antibiotics in this country is responsible for approximately 23,000 deaths as year – a figure the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is trying to reduce.
In 2011, 1,925 malaria cases were reported in the United States, according to data published in a supplement of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) released last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Approximately 300,000 are diagnosed with Lyme disease each year, according to a newly released estimate by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The estimate is based on medical claim, a survey of clinical laboratories and a survey of the general public.