Beach season is a welcome time of the year for swimmers and sunbathers, but along with the warm weather comes warm water, and a potential health hazard: Florida health officials are issuing their yearly warning to swimmers (and diners) about the dangers of a flesh-eating bacteria that’s caused two deaths already this year. [More]
infections
Florida Officials Warning Swimmers Of Flesh-Eating Bacteria Responsible For 2 Deaths This Year
By 6.15.15
CDC Says Most HIV Patients Don't Have Infection Under Control
By 11.30.11
Although HIV doesn’t dominate headlines like it did 20 years ago, the virus still rages out of control in most patients it infects. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, most HIV-afflicted patients don’t take the drugs they need to manage their conditions. Scarier still, as many as 20 percent of those with HIV don’t know they’re infected. [More]
U.S. Airways Flight 401 Had Passenger Infected WIth Tuberculosis
By 1.15.10
A tuberculosis-infected passenger flew on U.S. Airways 401 Saturday from Philadelphia to San Francisco, CNN reports. This despite the fact that the contagious and unidentified passenger was listed on a federal “do not board” list. [More]
Homes With Cats 8 Times More Likely To Contain MRSA
By 9.23.09
You may have thought you could only get MRSA at hospitals and the beach, but apparently researchers have discovered that it can be transmitted via pets and lead to repeat infections, reports the New York Times. One recent case involved a baby elephant and 20 human caretakers at the San Diego Zoo last year, but at the domestic level it looks like cats (and dogs, but not to the same degree) somehow contribute to cycle of infection at home.
Oh, Good, Another Dangerous Thing At The Beach
By 9.13.09
As if skin cancer, rip tides, and sharks weren’t enough to worry about at the beach. A University of Washington study found the antibiotic-resistant superbug methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA to its friends) in the water of many different Puget Sound beaches.
Gross: Your Pet Could Give You A MRSA Infection
By 6.22.09
We know you love little Fluffy, but according to an article from ABCNews — he could give you methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In case you are not aware — that’s bad news.
Passenger On Northwest Last Week Had Tuberculosis
By 3.16.09
If you happened to be on Northwest Airlines Flight 51 from Frankfurt to Detroit last Tuesday, and you were one of the 17 unlucky passengers who sat near enough to Mr. Fancypants Lung Disease Person, you can look forward to a call from the CDC telling you that you need to get tested for tuberculosis. The risk of catching the disease is low, but the CDC is contacting passengers as a “cautionary move” according to the Associated Press. And if for some reason you do end up with TB, please do not get on any airplanes.
Hewlett-Packard Takes Shipping Malware-Infested USB Sticks Very Seriously
By 4.11.08
WHO: Hewlett-PackardWHAT: A batch of USB keys for HP’s line of ProLiant servers have been shipped infected with the worms W32.Fakerecy and W32.SillyFDC. Both can allow attackers to take over a system.WHERE: HP ships USB sticks with malware [CNET] (Thanks to Jimbo!)
Federal Agency Kills Lifesaving Hospital Checklist Program
By 1.2.08
The Office for Human Research Protections recently shut down a Johns Hopkins University program that had intensive care units across Michigan following “a simple five-step checklist designed to prevent certain hospital infections.”
Cheap Tattoos Come With Free Drug-Resistant Staph Infections
By 12.18.07
If you’re in the market for a cheap, illegal tattoo, you might want to make sure that you have good health insurance, because your new ink might come with a free drug-resistant staph infection.
A West Rutland [Vermont] couple is facing charges for allegedly giving tattoos that infected a number of people.
Things You Can Do To Prevent Hospital Acquired Infections
By 8.27.07
Hospital acquired infections are dangerous and costly to consumers. You go to the hospital, you pay your money and you get sicker than before you went in. That’s just not cool.
Hospitals: Staph Infections Are Rampant
By 6.28.07
The Chicago Tribune reports that 1.2 million hospital patients are infected with dangerous drug-resistant staph infections every year—10 times more than previously estimated according to a new study. The paper also reported that 48,000 to 119,000 hospital patients a year may be dying from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, far more than previously thought. Great!
The Tribune obtained the results during the weekend from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology (APIC), which is releasing the report publicly on Monday. The author is Dr. William Jarvis, former acting director of the hospital infections program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
