The pathogens you cannot see: How to fight and prioritize airborne diseases
By
Megan Henken
Apr 12, 2022
Cleaning and disinfection priorities in healthcare often focus on surfaces. And yet, many life-threatening pathogens are spread through the air requiring different protocols, equipment and considerations....
‘Universal and persistent’: Surfaces near nursing home beds may harbor coronavirus for days
By
Alicia Lasek
Nov 16, 2021
Surfaces in 90% of COVID-19 patients’ rooms were contaminated with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, most commonly bed and TV remote controls, nurse call buttons, window sills and door knobs, investigators say.
Cleaning effectively and proving it
By
Matt Morrison
Aug 05, 2021
Virtually all industries and organizations are now extremely focused on protecting the health of building users by implementing hygienic cleaning methods that target high-contact surfaces such as doorknobs,...
‘Aggressive’ steps needed to keep deadly fungus out of nursing homes: APIC
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 29, 2021
Prevention is the best available strategy for keeping multidrug-resistant Candida auris infections from embedding in nursing homes, the infection control group says. “We may soon run out of options to...
Feds revoke emergency use of some respirators, mask decontamination in healthcare settings
By
Alicia Lasek
Jul 02, 2021
Healthcare personnel are no longer authorized to use certain respirators not approved by NIOSH or technology for cleaning disposable masks, the FDA says.
What you should know about disinfectants
By
Mark Hodgson
May 13, 2021
In the long-term care sector, we have to address patients who may have been through multiple hospital visits and may have been infected with a wide range of multi-drug resistant organisms. Some of them...
How to hire a new cleaning contractor post-COVID-19
By
Michael Wilson
May 06, 2021
If hiring a new cleaning contractor, the owners and managers of senior and long-term care facilities must realize that just about everything has changed. What they looked for in a cleaning contractor before...
Simple hygiene beats visitor contact precautions to reduce C. diff rate: study
By
Alicia Lasek
Mar 01, 2021
Visitor contact precautions made little difference in protecting against Clostridium difficile in the elderly when compared with small changes in normal daily hygiene, new research has found.
FDA limits N95 respirator reuse to four times with PPE decontamination systems
By
Alicia Lasek
Jan 26, 2021
The agency last week reissued emergency use authorizations to some manufacturers, allowing compatible N95 respirators to be decontaminated a maximum of four times only.
FDA approves ultraviolet N95 mask cleaning system with small footprint
By
Alicia Lasek
Dec 07, 2020
The Lumin LM3000 device is authorized for emergency use during the pandemic. It originally was designed to clean continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine accessories.