Disinfection caps successful in CLABSI prevention

Loyola achieves 68 percent decrease in central line bloodstream infections

2014-06-04

(Press-News.org) Thanks to the simple use of an alcohol-impregnated cap, Loyola University Medical Center achieved a 68 percent decrease in the overall number of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) over a 12-month period. A two-year study compared the use of disinfection caps to an intense scrub-the-hub intervention to standard care. Scrub-the-hub refers to cleaning catheter connector hubs and injection ports with alcohol for the recommended 15 seconds before accessing the central line, a catheter placed in a large vein to deliver medicine and liquids during hospitalization.

"Loyola discovered that 80 percent of infections occurring in the scrub-the-hub arm were related to not scrubbing the hub for the required full 15 seconds," says Marcelina M. Wawrzyniak, MSN, RN, study author and infection preventionist at Loyola University Medical Center. "Substituting the use of alcohol-impregnated caps was very well-received by staff due to the ease of use. Implementation of the caps sustained a reduction in CLABSI over the long term."

Wawrzyniak presented the Loyola study in June at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). Wawrzyniak received the Young Investigator Award as primary author of the Loyola study.

The cost of CLABCI is estimated at $45,814 per infection, according to a recent analysis published in the Journal of American Medical Association Internal Medicine. "Loyola went from 59 to just 23 CLABSIs within a 12-month period after using the alcohol caps, reducing hospital costs by over $1 million," says Jorge Parada, MD, MPH, FACP, FIDSA, professor of medicine at Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine. "Alcohol impregnated caps were an added cost but documentation of the increased patient safety coupled with the reduction in CLABSI costs made it easy to receive administration approval."

A poster presentation of Infection Prevention Denominator Data Collection Opportunities in a University Medical Center was also created by Loyola and showcased at the national conference.

INFORMATION:

Loyola has 140 intensive care unit (ICU) beds in its 569-bed medical center located outside Chicago. Loyola University Health System is recognized internationally as a leader in infection control and prevention. Loyola is one of a few select hospitals who invest in universal screening of all inpatients for MRSA. Loyola was one of the first institutions to require all staff to have mandatory flu shots as a condition of employment. Loyola also actively screens emergency department patients for HIV/AIDS as part of an ongoing research study.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Genetics provide blueprint for new heart disease therapies

2014-06-04

PHILADELPHIA — Advances in the understanding of the genetics of coronary artery disease, or CAD, will revitalize the field and lead to more therapeutic targets for new medicines to combat this common disease, suggests a genetics expert from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in a Perspective article in the new issue of Science Translational Medicine. Daniel J. Rader, MD, chair of the Department of Genetics and associate director of the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, asserts that the lagging search for new heart medicines ...

UCLA researchers identify new gene involved in Parkinson's disease

2014-06-04

A team of UCLA researchers has identified a new gene involved in Parkinson's disease, a finding that may one day provide a target for a new drug to prevent and potentially even cure the debilitating neurological disorder. Parkinson's disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease, and there is no cure for the progressive and devastating illness. About 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson's disease each year. It is estimated that as many as 1 million Americans live with Parkinson's disease, which is more than the number ...

Drones give farmers an eye in the sky to check on crop progress

2014-06-04

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — This growing season, crop researchers at the University of Illinois are experimenting with the use of drones – unmanned aerial vehicles – on the university's South Farms. Dennis Bowman, a crop sciences educator with U. of I. Extension, is using two drones to take aerial pictures of crops growing in research plots on the farms. He presented his findings to farmers and other researchers at the 2014 Ford / Iroquois County Agronomy Day meeting. Bowman intentionally made mistakes on one test plot – "areas where we didn't apply enough nitrogen fertilizer, ...

Increase in number of total knee replacement surgeries, especially in younger adults, linked to obesity

2014-06-04

ROSEMONT, Ill.─The number of total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries more than tripled between 1993 and 2009, while the number of total hip replacements (THR) doubled during the same time period. A study appearing in the June Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS) found that an increase in the prevalence of ovrweight and obesity in the U.S. accounted for 95 percent of the higher demand for knee replacements, with younger patients affected to a greater degree. "We observed that growth of knee replacement volumes was far outpacing that of hip replacements and were ...

Surprisingly strong magnetic fields challenge black holes' pull

2014-06-04

A new study of supermassive black holes at the centers of galaxies has found magnetic fields play an impressive role in the systems' dynamics. In fact, in dozens of black holes surveyed, the magnetic field strength matched the force produced by the black holes' powerful gravitational pull, says a team of scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy (MPIfR) in Bonn, Germany. The findings are published in this week's issue of Nature. "This paper for the first time systematically ...

No evidence of the double nature of neutrinos

2014-06-04

Neutrinos are tiny, neutral elementary particles that, contrary to the standard model of physics, have been proven to have mass. One possible explanation for this mass could be that neutrinos are their own antiparticles, so-called Majorana particles. Though experimental evidence for this is still lacking, many theoretical extensions of the standard model of physics predict the Majorana nature of neutrinos. If this hypothesis proves to be true, many previously unanswered questions about the origin of our universe and the origin of matter could be answered. 650 meters ...

NASA sees Depression Boris mOVING over Mexico with heavy rainfall

2014-06-04

Tropical Depression 2E strengthened into Tropical Storm Boris briefly on June 3 before making landfall in southern Mexico and weakening into a depression. While Boris was building to tropical storm strength, NASA's Aqua and TRMM satellites passed overhead identifying heavy rainfall and the extent of the storm. On June 3 at 19:15 UTC (3:15 p.m. EDT) the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a visible image of Tropical Storm Boris over Central America. Boris appeared circular in the imagery and its clouds ...

Scientist uses fossils to prove historic Ohio millstones have French origins

2014-06-04

Cleveland . . . A geologist studied fossils to confirm that stones used in 19th century Ohio grain mills originated from France. Fossils embedded in these millstones were analyzed to determine that stones known as French buhr were imported from regions near Paris, France, to Ohio in the United States. Dr. Joseph Hannibal, curator of invertebrate paleontology at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, was lead author on research published in the Society for Sedimentary Geology journal PALAIOS. The study documents a technique that uses fossils to definitively distinguish ...

Cleaning the air with roof tiles

2014-06-04

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (http://www.ucr.edu) — A team of University of California, Riverside's Bourns College of Engineering students created a roof tile coating that when applied to an average-sized residential roof breaks down the same amount of smog-causing nitrogen oxides per year as a car driven 11,000 miles. They calculated 21 tons of nitrogen oxides would be eliminated daily if tiles on one million roofs were coated with their titanium dioxide mixture. They also calculated it would cost only about $5 for enough titanium dioxide to coat an average-sized residential roof. That ...

Mayo Clinic researchers decode how the brain miswires, possibly causing ADHD

2014-06-04

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Florida and at Aarhus University in Denmark have shed light on why neurons in the brain's reward system can be miswired, potentially contributing to disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). They say findings from their study, published online today in Neuron, may increase the understanding of underlying causes of ADHD, potentially facilitating the development of more individualized treatment strategies. The scientists looked at dopaminergic neurons, which regulate pleasure, motivation, ...

Amid record year for dengue infections, new study finds climate change responsible for 19% of today’s rising dengue burden

New study finds air pollution increases inflammation primarily in patients with heart disease

AI finds undiagnosed liver disease in early stages

The American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announce new research fellowship in malaria genomics in honor of professor Dominic Kwiatkowski

Disinfection caps successful in CLABSI prevention

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: