Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Infection Prevention during Blood Glucose Monitoring and Insulin

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has become increasingly concerned about the risks for transmitting hepatitis B virus (HBV) and other infectious diseases during assisted blood glucose (blood sugar) monitoring and insulin administration.

CDC is alerting all persons who assist others with blood glucose monitoring and/or insulin administration of the following infection control requirements:

  • Fingerstick devices should never be used for more than one person

  • Whenever possible, blood glucose meters should not be shared. If they must be shared, the device should be cleaned and disinfected after every use, per manufacturer’s instructions. If the manufacturer does not specify how the device should be cleaned and disinfected then it should not be shared.

  • Insulin pens and other medication cartridges and syringes are for single-patient-use only and should never be used for more than one person

Examples of settings where assisted monitoring of blood glucose and insulin administration may occur include:

  • Hospitals or clinics
  • Long term care settings such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities
  • Senior centers
  • Health fairs
  • Correctional facilities
  • Schools or camps

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Spinal Injection Procedures Performed without a Facemask

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is referred about the occurrence of bacterial meningitis among patients having spinal injection procedures that require injection of material or insertion of a catheter into epidural or subdural spaces (e.g., myelogram, administration of spinal or epidural anesthesia, or intrathecal chemotherapy).

Outbreaks of bacterial meningitis following these spinal injection procedures continue to be named among patients whose procedures were performed by a healthcare provider who did not wear a facemask (e.g., may be labeled as surgical, medical procedure, or isolation mask), with the most recent occurrence in October 2010 (CDC unpublished data). This notice serves as a reminder that masks should always be used by health professionals to perform these spinal injection procedures.

Since masks have been shown to limit the spread of droplets resulting from the oral flora, the CDC has recommended its use by health professionals to perform spinal injection procedures.

In addition to wearing a mask, healthcare providers should ensure compliance with all CDC recommended safe injection practices including the use of a single-dose vial of medication to a patient.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Safe Injection Practices to Prevent Transmission of Infections to Patients

The investigation of 4 large outbreaks of HBV and HCV among patients in ambulatory care facilities in the United States identified a required to define and reinforce safe injection practices 453. The four outbreaks occurred in a private medical practice, a pain clinic, an endoscopy clinic, and a hematology/oncology clinic.




The primary breaches in infection control exercise that contributed to these outbreaks were 1) reinsertion of used needles into a multiple-dose vial or solution container (e.g., saline bag) and 2) use of a single needle/syringe to administer intravenous medication to multiple patients. In one of these outbreaks, preparation of medications in the same workspace where used needle/syringes were dismantled also may have been a contributing factor.



For more information

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Unsafe Injection Practices prevail Despite Education Efforts

An online survey view of US health care providers finds some reporting syringe and needle reuse, putting patients at danger for blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis B and C. The year of May-June 2010 poll of 5,446 eligible respondents, took by the health care purchasing bond Premier Inc., included personnel from hospitals (66 percent) and non-hospital settings (34 percent).



Unsafe practices described included 6 percent reporting "sometimes or always" using single-dose/single-use medication vials for more than one patient; 0.9 percent "sometimes or always" reusing a syringe while altering only the needle for use on another patient; and 15.1 percent reusing a syringe to insert a multidose vial and then 6.5 percent saving that vial for use on some other patient (1.1 percent overall).

Safe Injection Practices are a set of recommendations within Standard Precautions, which are the foundation for preventing transmission of infections during patient care in all healthcare settings including hospitals, long-term care facilities, ambulatory care, home care and hospice.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

New HIV cases drop among those who use injection drugs

New cases of HIV amid people who use drugs by injection (IDU) in B.C. continue to decline. According to a fresh report released today by the provincial health officer, it is crucial that harm reduction measures are sustained and explicated for this decline to continue.

According to the report, authorize Decreasing HIV Infections Among People Who Use Drugs by Injection in BC, there are a number of factors that might strengthen to the decrease in new HIV cases seen among injection drug users. The uptake and expansion of Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART) – the current gold standard in HIV treatment - likely has been a most important factor in reducing the number of HIV incidences in this population.

HAART has the ability to modify the way people live with HIV by improving their quality of life and reducing transmission rates. Participation in detriment reduction programs has been associated with a decrease risk for HIV and Hepatitis C Virus (HCV). Transmission of this disease has also likely been affected by changes in drug use (type of drugs and routes used) or changes in the population.

Article source:http://www2.news.gov.bc.ca/news_releases_2009-2013/2011HLTH0017-000288.htm