Having a trained nurse or nurse team present during central line procedures or catheter insertion reduces the chance of infection for patients by 47%, according to new research from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control.

Heart disease, cancer and COVID-19 were responsible for nearly half of U.S. deaths in 2021, according to a report by USA Facts, a nonprofit organization that conducts data analysis.

The U.S. is cracking down on hospitals to improve sepsis care. A rule finalized in August by CMS and the Biden administration will give health systems until 2026 to comply with the new standards. In the meantime, researchers are pushing ahead with techniques and tools aimed at improving outcomes. 

Hospitals and infectious disease physicians contend that CMS' final rule on sepsis care is too rigid and does not allow clinicians flexibility to determine how recommendations should apply to their specific patients.

The nation's 20-year streak of zero locally acquired malaria cases broke in 2023 after four states have reported infections, including the first-ever case in Arkansas. 

Hospital-acquired infections have been on the rise in recent years, but a possible new vaccine developed by researchers could be given to patients upon arrival to help prevent antibiotic-resistant infections. 

Good Samaritan Medical Center in Brockton, Mass., has recently treated four patients for tuberculosis. While there are about 10 active cases of the disease among residents in the city, officials maintain they are unrelated and therefore it is not considered an outbreak, The Boston Globe reported Oct. 5. 

All vaccines recommended by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices should be required for healthcare personnel, a coalition of 17 infection prevention and patient safety organizations said in an Oct. 6 letter sent to healthcare employers, as well as state and local government leaders. 

A recent study found evidence of a "long cold" syndrome associated with a variety of common respiratory viruses, including the common cold and influenza.

New Mexico has the highest rate of Clostridium difficile infections, while Alaska has the lowest, federal data shows.

The CDC has traced a string of sepsis cases that occurred after blood transfusions to contaminated blood platelet collection sets and solutions manufactured by Fresenius Kabi.

An uptick of confirmed leprosy cases in Florida is resparking the debate of the disease's possible connection to nine-banded armadillos, USA Today reported Oct. 3. 

Some hospitals and health systems have recently implemented visitor restrictions, citing an increase of respiratory virus activity in their facilities or in the communities they serve.

Legionnaires' disease-causing bacteria was found in one area of the 303-bed Cabell Huntington (W.Va.) Hospital, NBC affiliate WSAZ reported Sept. 29.

A new blood test designed to detect sepsis earlier in at-risk patients demonstrated a survival rate of 95 percent in a study led by Penn State.

New research from NYC Health + Hospitals shows concerning changes in the prevalence and epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infections.

With masking policies now left in the hands of individual hospitals and health systems to decide, one thing is clear: There is no one-size-fits-all approach for the infection control measure this fall. 

Penn Medicine researchers created an experimental mRNA vaccine that could protect against Borrelia burgdorferi, the bacteria that causes Lyme disease.

Ann Arbor-based Michigan Medicine researchers found Clostridioides difficile infections have more to do with patient characteristics than hospital transmission and that the infection may not be spreading the way previously believed.

Wyoming reported the state's first-ever human case of leptospirosis Sept. 15.