Research on antibiotic use, drug resistant organisms and effectiveness of electronic faucets

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Annual Meeting research preview

2011-04-03

(Press-News.org) WHAT: A special media phone briefing with leading infectious disease scientists and healthcare-associated infection experts who will headline the 2011 Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America's (SHEA) Annual Meeting

WHO: Arjun Srinivasan, MD, Associate Director of Healthcare-associated Infection Prevention Programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Steven Gordon, MD, President, Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Makoto Jones, MD, Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System Dawn Terashita, MD, MPH, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Emily Sydnor, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

WHEN: Wednesday, March 23, 2011 at 1 p.m. ET

RSVP: Contact Tamara Moore, tmoore@gymr.com, to receive the conference number and embargoed materials

Selected studies include: Findings from a large, multi-year study of antibiotic use in Veterans Health Administration's acute care facilities shows use of "drugs of last resort" is on the rise. The dramatic increase in use of broad spectrum antibiotics, including carbapenems, is alarming because overuse of these drugs could weaken their efficacy, threatening their effectiveness against these and other emerging infections. (Embargoed for Sunday, April 3 at 7 am CT). Researchers with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health have found high rates of the multi-drug resistant pathogen, carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumonia (CRKP), previously not considered prevalent on the West Coast. CRKP is a major public health concern that can be associated with higher mortality, longer hospital stays and increased health care costs. (Embargoed for Sunday, April 3 at 7 am CT). A study from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine has determined that electronic faucets are more likely to become contaminated with unacceptably high levels of bacteria compared with traditional manually operated faucets. (Embargoed for Thursday, March 31 at 7 am CT). ### About SHEA's 2011 Annual Meeting: SHEA's Annual Scientific Meeting is the premier scientific meeting for healthcare epidemiologists and other individuals working in the field of healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention and control. The meeting will take place April 1-4, 2011 in Dallas, TX.

SHEA is a professional society representing more than 1,800 physicians and other healthcare professionals around the world with expertise in healthcare epidemiology and infection prevention and control. SHEA's mission is to prevent and control healthcare-associated infections and advance the field of healthcare epidemiology. The society leads this field by promoting science and research and providing high-quality education and training in epidemiologic methods and prevention strategies. SHEA upholds the value and critical contributions of healthcare epidemiology to improving patient care and healthcare worker safety in all healthcare settings. For more information, visit SHEA's website, www.shea-online.org.

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Bingo Wonga, One of the Leading UK Bingo Review Websites, Launches New UK Lotto Results Service

2011-04-03

Bingo Wonga will offer a new lotto results section which will feature all the latest UK Lotto draws including Lotto, Euro Millions, Thunderball, Plus 5, Daily Play and Hotpicks. The new section will also contain a history of results for each draw. Bingo Wonga was launched during May 2010 and in less than a year has become one of the most popular online bingo review sites. Unlike most other bingo review sites, Bingo Wonga only promote the very best UK bingo brands such as Sky Bingo, Sky Vegas and Virgin Bingo. Bingo Wonga also make available to their readers a large ...

Hypothermia proves successful in younger cardiac patients too

2011-04-03

Young adult patients with genetic heart diseases, such as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), substantially benefitted from therapeutic hypothermia, which could further extend the role for this treatment strategy in new patient populations, according to a scientific presentation at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions in New Orleans, April 1-3. In patients with HCM, despite rapid cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) with defibrillation, survival following out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has been particularly unfavorable, explained the study authors. ...

Young black athletes with sickle cell trait might be susceptible to sudden death

2011-04-03

The sickle cell trait could be a cause—albeit rare—of sudden death in young African-American competitive athletes, most commonly during football training, according to a scientific poster that will be presented at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Scientific Sessions, April 1-3, in New Orleans. The sickle cell trait (SCT), which affects approximately 8 percent of African-Americans in the U.S., has been associated with sudden death in military recruits undergoing vigorous exercise. Due to the potential hypothesis that SCT may also cause sudden death in young highly ...

Scientists identify KRAS rearrangements in metastatic prostate cancer

2011-04-03

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists have uncovered a genetic characteristic of metastatic prostate cancer that defines a rare sub-type of this disease. These findings are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, which will debut at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held April 2-6. Arul M. Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D., an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology, and colleagues identified an oncogenic gene fusion of KRAS, one of the most studied and ...

New target identified for squamous cell lung cancer

2011-04-03

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute have identified a mutation in the DDR2 gene that may indicate which patients with squamous cell lung cancer will respond to dasatinib. The findings are published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, debuting here at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, from April 2-6. According to lead researcher Matthew Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D., professor of pathology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, there are currently no targeted therapies for squamous cell lung cancer, ...

Immune system may guide chemotherapy for breast cancer

2011-04-03

ORLANDO, Fla. — A study published in Cancer Discovery, the newest journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, debuting here at the AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011, held April 2-6, showed how evaluating the immune response in the tumor microenvironment may help researchers better target therapy in breast cancer. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, demonstrated that the level of macrophages and CD8+ T-cells, two key components of the human immune system, can help predict recurrence and overall survival. New biologic-targeted therapies ...

Digoxin may be a possible treatment for prostate cancer

2011-04-03

ORLANDO, Fla. — Scientists have identified digoxin as a possible therapy for prostate cancer, using a combination of laboratory science and epidemiology that is unprecedented in its cooperative nature. "Epidemiologists and basic scientists often do not understand each other, as we often are only clear on our own strengths and the other's weaknesses," said Elizabeth Platz, Sc.D., M.P.H, professor of epidemiology and the Martin D. Abeloff, M.D., scholar in cancer prevention at Johns Hopkins University. For the current paper, published in Cancer Discovery, the newest ...

Large Veterans Health Administration study shows 'last resort' antibiotics use on the rise

2011-04-03

Dallas, TX (April 3, 2011) – A large, multi-year study of antibiotic use in Veterans Health Administration's acute care facilities demonstrates dramatically increased use of carbapenems, a powerful class of antibiotics, over the last five years. These drugs are often considered the last treatment option for severe infections with multi-drug resistant pathogens. The increased carbapenem use, which has also been described in non-VA facilities in the US, is alarming because carbapenem-resistant bacteria are becoming more common. Overuse of these drugs could weaken their efficacy, ...

Search for advanced materials aided by discovery of hidden symmetries in nature

2011-04-03

A new way of understanding the structure of proteins, polymers, minerals, and engineered materials will be published in the May 2011 issue of the journal Nature Materials. The discovery by two Penn State University researchers is a new type of symmetry in the structure of materials, which the researchers say greatly expands the possibilities for discovering or designing materials with desired properties. The research is expected to have broad relevance in many development efforts involving physical, chemical, biological, or engineering disciplines including, for example, ...

Heart drug cuts prostate cancer risk; holds potential for therapeutic use

2011-04-03

Johns Hopkins scientists and their colleagues paired laboratory and epidemiologic data to find that men using the cardiac drug, digoxin, had a 24 percent lower risk for prostate cancer. The scientists say further research about the discovery may lead to use of the drug, or new ones that work the same way, to treat the cancer. Digoxin, made from the foxglove plant, has been used for centuries in folk medicine and for decades to treat congestive heart failure and heart rhythm abnormalities. It also emerged as a leading candidate among 3,000 drugs screened by the Johns ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Evaluating performance and agreement of coronary heart disease polygenic risk scores

Heart failure in zero gravity— external constraint and cardiac hemodynamics

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