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 Toxic Shock Syndrome Information - October 13, 2008
| With the onset of "Hospital Infection Prevention Week" across the country, Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports, is calling on hospitals nationwide to disclose their hand washing compliance rates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers proper hand hygiene to be the single most important factor in protecting patients from hospital acquired infections, which kill nearly 100,000 Americans every year. "Clean hands save lives," says Lisa McGiffert, Director of Consumers Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign . McGiffert continues, "Unfortunately, most hospitals have a poor track record when it comes to making sure caregivers are protecting patients from infections by cleaning their hands properly | | Waikiki, HI (AHN)-After falling into the polluted waters of the Ala Wai Boat Harbor last week, a 34-year-old mortgage loan officer is near death with a flesh-eating disease | | Researchers have discovered that the so-called flesh-eating "Strep" bacteria uses a specific enzyme to break free of the body's immune system. This new finding could potentially lead to new treatments for serious infections in human patients. The research, published in the Current Biology journal, focuses on the major human pathogen group A Streptococcus. Strep is responsible for a wide range of diseases - from simple throat and skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as necrotizing fasciitis ("flesh-eating disease") and toxic shock syndrome | | Three Chicago-area children have died of a toxic shock syndrome-like illness caused by a germ caught within the community - not in the hospital, where it is usually found. The cases show the staph germ, known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, has become even more dangerous by causing a shock-like condition | |
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