Health systems spend millions obtaining the latest technology to create state-of-the-art facilities and to build reputations for quality and innovation. But failing to maintain consistency in relatively low-tech, low-cost infection prevention strategies like hand hygiene can undermine reputation, patient outcomes and the financial bottom line across all practice areas.

The CDC has reported two more deaths linked to a bacterial infection from eye drops.

The rapid spread of Candida auris in hospitals is highlighting poorly funded and understaffed infection prevention efforts, The Washington Post reported March 21.

There is an emerging threat of Candida auris, a fungus that is becoming more resistant to treatment, the CDC said March 20. 

While the majority of clinicians view hand hygiene as critical to patient safety, environment and other factors can stand in the way of high reliability, according to a new survey-based study led by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital. 

Five medical societies collaborated to publish updated hand hygiene recommendations for preventing healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene at acute care facilities, Wolters Kluwer reported March 13.

Three patients have tested positive for Legionella at Cincinnati-based Christ Hospital's main campus, NBC affiliate WLWT5 reported March 11.

The CDC recently updated its recommendations for hepatitis B infection testing, saying all adults should be tested at least once in their lifetime and a wider range should be periodically retested.

Mass General Brigham researchers at two hospitals found the metabolic strategies C. difficile uses to rapidly colonize the gut and identified ways to combat the disease, the Somerville, Mass.-based health system said in a March 9 news release.

A California physician contracted mpox via skin contact after working with two infected patients, in a rare case of infection without a needle stick.

Bacteria from a water purification system may be linked to three deaths at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, according to research published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Healthcare workers who had symptoms after receiving a COVID-19 vaccination had longer and stronger immunity than those who did not, researchers at Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health, found, according to a March 6 news release.

Ahead of the ending COVID-19 emergency, several hospitals and health systems have begun to walk back their mask rules. 

Denver Health and Aurora, Colo.-based UCHealth plan to lift universal mask mandates March 1, Colorado Public Radio reported Feb. 27. 

Raleigh-based North Carolina State University researchers developed an inhalable powder that can help protect a person's lungs and airways from viral infections.

Hospitalized patients taking proton pump inhibitors — medications used to treat heartburn — may be at a higher risk of acquiring multidrug-resistant bacteria, according to a study published Feb. 23 in JAMA Network Open. 

An 11-year-old Florida boy died of flesh-eating bacteria after spraining his ankle, NBC affiliate WESH reported Feb. 18.

Researchers at the University of Central Florida secured a patent for a "nanomaterial-based disinfectant that can kill several viruses," including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the Orlando-based school said Feb. 20. 

Health officials in Mississippi are continuing to watch the growing number of cases of Candida auris, a drug-resistant fungal infection, which is now believed to be the cause of four deaths in the state, according to a Feb. 20 report from Mississippi Today.

A recent study found a link between gender and the department in which a patient is hospitalized and mortality and length of stay.