1. Hospitals may be able to boost antimicrobial stewardship and reduce the number of patients who start antimicrobial therapy by changing their urine culture ordering practices, according to a recent study. Read more.
2. New research from the University of Exeter in England produced a novel imaging method that attaches radioactive antibodies to portions of the lungs infected with Aspergillus fumigatus spores, making them visible to clinicians. Read more.
3. A study from the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora found factors such as patients’ needs for advanced care and for invasive devices such as feeding tubes or catheters were predictive for readmitted patients. Read more.
4. A Journal of Hospital Infection study revealed healthcare workers with beards carried fewer harmful bacteria than those with less facial hair. Read more.
5. A lab at Oxford University in the U.K. has engineered and combined two proteins from Streptococcus pyogenes bacteria into unbreakable “superglue” that could speed up the process of developing new vaccines. Read more.
6. Quantum dots, a form of light-activated nanoparticle 20,000 times smaller than a human hair, can be engineered to fight bacteria and kill infected cells, according to research published in Nature Materials. Read more.
7. Biophysicists from Johns Hopkins in Baltimore may have discovered why the bacteria that cause tuberculosis harbor some natural resistance to fluoroquinolones and how to make the antibiotics more effective against TB. Read more.
8. Hospitals that refer patients to inpatient facilities more frequently also tend to have shorter lengths of stay and higher readmission rates, according to research from UCLA. Read more.
9. Just 17.4 percent of ambulatory care nurses reported that they comply with all nine standard precautions for infection prevention, according to a study in the American Journal of Infection Control. Read more.
10. The varicella zoster virus vaccine is the best way to protect against chickenpox and shingles, but research from the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia found the vaccine may be associated with corneal inflammation in rare cases. Read more.
11. Researchers at Duke Health in Durham, N.C., are in the process of developing a blood test that could more rapidly determine the root cause of infections, whether viral or bacterial, and enable clinicians to make better decisions about antibiotic prescription. Read more.
12. Patients undergoing surgery at hospitals Magnet-recognized for nursing excellence are more likely to have better outcomes at lower costs, according to research from the Philadelphia-based University of Pennsylvania. Read more.
