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Infectious Awareables E-Borne Newsletter ~ November 2006
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[Note: We mail this E-Borne newsletter 4x/year +/- to friends, colleagues and suspecting customers of record. If we have mistakenly included you in this mailing, or you wish to be removed from our subscriber list, please refer to end of the newsletter for instructions. We'll miss you, but we promise to honor your request.]
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Dear friends and colleagues,
Whatever happened to September and October!
Beats us! We had barely stashed the sun block when
visions of turkeys (the cranberry and gravy types)
began to appear. Can nightmares of little drummer
boys be far behind? This month marks Infectious
Awareables, Inc.'s 9th anniversary - nine years since
we bravely ventured into territory any (sane) person
would fear to tread. Although we can't claim to be
saner now, we do feel better knowing that YOU are
reading this along with us. Enjoy our holiday preview -
the options are to go out...there ;)
P.S. Watch for NEW BROCHURE, mailing first week of
November.
1. MRSA AND ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE
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AT A HOSPITAL OR COMMUNITY SETTING NEAR YOU
If you don't know much about Methicillin-resistant
Staph aureus, get yourself a-googling, stat! This is
a nasty, antibiotic-resistant pathogen that demands
some serious attention and respect.
The impact of MRSA skin and invasive infections on
hospitals, physicians, patients and more
recently. . .the community-at-large. . .has become
an acute, global public health issue. Historically, the
MRSA/resistance problem has been primarily confined
to the hospital setting. Genetic changes in the Staph
organism, however, has resulted in strains distinct
from the HA (hospital-acquired) variety, and have
given rise to CA (community-associated)-MRSA, with
separate considerations and treatment.
In one prominent form of CA-MRSA, the mutant strain
of staph excretes a potent toxin which then
attacks the immune system and destroys tissues.
We thought the issue so important that we created
our own MRSA design - toxin glow and all. The
emergence of MRSA in the community underscores
the importance of good hand and general hygiene,
and of thoughtful, discriminate use of antibiotics. A
reminder to us all that there are a bunch of
rogue'crobes out there that are ever-genemorphing
to have their way with us. Tell a friend.
Click image for MRSA
Tie
For more information on antibiotic resistance, visit
(APUA), the Alliance for
the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, whom we thank for
their help in creating our
design. www.apua.org.
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2. BROCCOLI: ALIMENTARY ALLY?
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AND THEN THERE'S BROCCOLI RESISTANCE
Met up with one of our favorite
Aware-o-philes at the September ICAAC
(Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and
Chemotherapy) meeting in San Francisco. Dr.
Charles Pavia, always a little testy because we
haven't yet created a Lyme Disease design,
continues to ensure we're on the cutting edge of
microbiology. With this in mind, we noted his
poster presentation which concluded that an active
compound in - BROCCOLI - inhibited growth of some
serious infectious pathogens.
This could mean that,
along with its documented antitumor effects, the
Green Crucifer might be helpful in preventing certain
infections in cancer patients. It had to be
Broccoli !!?? WHERE IS THE WORK ON BROWNIES,
BUNDT AND BRULEE???
Click image for H.Pylori
tie. Broccoli
image purposely unclickable.
Anyway, one bacterial pathogen d-sixed by
b-b-b-broccoli is H.PYLORI,famed ulcer-causing
celeb. We've memorialized it on silk, and called it our
"no worries" design. But that was before we heard
about this broccoli thing...
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3. BE KIND TO YOUR DENTIST
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THE DENTIST IS (COULD BE) YOUR FRIEND
Here are some floss facts from The Dental Assistant
magazine that will impress your dentist or hygienist:
- Floss (silk) was invented around 1815 by a New
Orleans dentist.
- Unwaxed silk floss was first became commercially
available in 1882.
- Wax floss was introduced in the 1940's, followed
by tape in the '50s.
- Marks from flossing (or something) have been
found on teeth of early humans.
- Women are twice as likely to floss as men.
- The average American will spend $7 on dental
floss this year.
For some strategic dental care, you might consider
our Dental Plaque designs for your preventive needs.
Not only are the designs accurate (enamel, cocci,
pellicle, microbulata), they are clinically proven to
result in pain-free appointments - especially when
gifted PRIOR to treatment! Do remember your
dental persons this year - they tend to be so lonely.
Click images for Dental Plaque Tie,
Scarf
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4. SURVEILLANCE AND E.COLI
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E.COLI OUTBREAK
The good news about the recent E.coli outbreak in
the mid-West and California was the rapid isolation of
the common element - in this case, spinach - and
the identification of the sources (California farms).
Thanks to a surveillance system set up as a result of
the 1993 "Jack in the Box" outbreak, the CDC now
coordinates links between public-health laboratories
nationwide, "fingerprinting" the DNA of the bacterial
offenders collected from victims. In this way,
epidemiologists are able to more rapidly ". . .find large
outbreaks when they are still in a small stage."
Before this system was in place, big ones just got
bigger - and fast! In case you've ever wondered,
here's what a flagellated E.coli looks like in a
digestible and far more fashionable config:
Click images for E.coli Ties, Tan/Red
and Navy/Gray
A sobering post-script: many of the major airlines
banned spinach on all flights during the epidemic.
Now THERE'S a reason to switch frequent-flier clubs!
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5. MENTORING HAND HYGIENE
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Just an FYI: recent studies show that a teacher's
(mentor's) hand hygiene (HH) practices are the
strongest predictor of student HH behavior, overriding
what is often a human-naturely disconnect between
HH knowledge (what we know) and HH behavior
(what we do!). In other words, students (children,
family, friends, others) will typically take a cue from
someone they respect, and tend to mimic behavior -
in this case, a really good behavior. Hmmm. . .
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6. AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION - BOSTON
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NOV 4-8, 2006
It all started for us nine years ago, at APHA -
Indianapolis. A great meeting,
15,000 committed and dedicated public health
personna sharing the latest information
and educational tools. Boston is fun. Still, we are
planning to stay out of tunnels.
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Back at you next month with last-minute pleas for
yule and yours. In the meantime, Happy
Thanksgiving, pilgrims!
Awareably yours,
Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S. and the IA Team
Infectious Awareables Copyright 2006 Infectious Awareables, Inc. Please feel free to pass this Ezine along to your friends. All we ask is that you keep it intact and forward it in its entirety. NOTICE: To subscribe to the IA newsletter: www.iawareables.com/a_main.htm
Phone:
818.990.6264
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