[Note:
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Dear friends and colleagues,
 Don't look now, but Spring is really here, though the folks in Fargo may have a few choice words about this year's "change of seasons!" Buckets and bucks, apt bedfellows in the bail out rites of Spring '09. Looks like this annum will prove a test for us all, so we may as well ease up on the gnashing, and just grin and bear (or is it bull ?) it. We do suggest avoiding pirates wherever you can! Here's to a few more springs in your step...
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Visit the IA Showroom: A very cool bird's eye view of the complete
Awareables necktie and scarf collection, past and present:
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1. GO AHEAD, SMILE |
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THEY'RE INFECTIOUS, TOO!
"I'm addicted to Placebos. I could quit but it wouldn't matter." - Steven Wright
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2. SCRUBS IN THE CITY - ECCHH! |
DO NOT READ BEFORE LUNCH We thought it was just us, but we're finally seeing serious discussion about the unappetizing practice of hospital and medical personnel wearing their scrubs to Starbucks...the market, or just plain OUT! In "Betsy's Blog" in Infection Control Today magazine, Betsy McCaughey, PhD notes that hospital uniforms can be a "dangerous fashion statement," often leaving behind reminders like C. difficile or resistant Staph to share your favorite restaurant booth or coffee table. After all, C. diff is not called "diff" for no reason: it simply chooses not to die! Laundry detergents and cleaners are mere frappes to this disagreeable little bugger - making it unlikely that restaurant personnel could de-contaminate surfaces that pose a challenge to even trained hospital staff! The Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID), of which Dr. McCaughey is chair, reports that one-third of medical personnel fail to wash their uniforms before wearing to work. There's more! Nearly 65% of personnel in one facility admitted to changing their uniforms only once a week! Yikes!! Considering that microbes like C. diff can cause an unsuspecting ingestome (that's you!) some serious afterglow, we agree with the Committee's call to prohibit the wearing of hospital apparel outside the facility - and for facilities to provide clean uniforms to employees and staff (just like the old days)! Visit www.hospitalinfection.org/ for timely information on hospital infections, prevention and control.
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3. BREAST CANCER VIGILANCE
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THE WHOLE POINT OF AWARENESS!
You would have to be on some other planet to be "unaware" of the threat of breast cancer. Unfortunately, statistics reveal that awareness alone doesn't always translate into action, or more specifically, into vigilance. Our new BC: V design challenges that notion, burying a subtle image of the BC cell amidst a sea of awareness ribbons. The original micrograph, provided by the National Cancer Institute many years ago for our first design, continues to serve as a visual reminder that vigilance, including self-examination, mammography and regular professional examination, is the ultimate goal of Awareness.
 Here is a preview of our BC: V scarf design,
ETA this summer. A necktie design with
another color combination is on the easel,
and should be ready to man up this July.
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4. CANNABALISM AND BACTERIA
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CAN DIGESTING A NEIGHBOR HELP REDUCE ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE?
Antibiotic resistant bacteria, "super bugs" as they are now known, has catapulted bacterial infection into the number one killer in our hospitals today. Determining just how bacteria go about buffing up and becoming super has lead to a frenzied focus of research from both science and industry. A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science postulates that one way to short circuit the resistance process may be to turn one bacterium against its siblings, a sort of internecine war that gulps away many of the riff-raffing cells so annoying to the old guard. Apparently, there is some sort of social intelligence among bacteria, using advanced chemical language, which aids them in processing information, solving problems and coping with new challenges.
Considering that these are single cells, we find it a little embarrassing that those of us with entire batches of brain cells still have trouble doing most of the above. In any event, if there's hope for reducing the critical bacterial resistance problem, we're for nuking their little brains out and asking questions later.
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5. HEPATITIS C
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THE SILENT EPIDEMIC
 Hepatitis C is an infectious disease of the liver caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV), and currently infects 4 million people in the United States. Its mortality rate is estimated at 10 - 20,000 deaths a year in this country, and is expected to increase as transfusion cases prior to testing are discovered. Because symptoms of the disease can often remain dormant for 20-30 years, the disease can be ominously silent. Its chronic stage, however, may lead to liver scarring and cirrhosis - often resulting in liver cancer or failure. HCV infections are the most common bloodborne disease in the U.S., and are the leading cause of liver transplants in this country.
It is likely that WE ALL KNOW SOMEONE INFECTED WITH HEPATITIS C - whether we are aware of it, or not. This silent and often deadly disease, effecting up to 200 million people worldwide, urgently screams for increased research funding, and for improved public awareness of the need for stringent bloodborne pathogen prevention.
Here is a preview of our upcoming HCV necktie and scarf designs, ETA mid-June 2009 - proving again that the nature of things cannot be judged by appearance alone.
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6. NEW NAME FOR INFECTION CONTROL PROFESSION
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INFECTION PREVENTIONISTS
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control (APIC), of which we have long been a member, recently announced that ICPs will now be referred to as Infection Preventionists. APIC professionals help create and monitor a safe environment in healthcare facilities, for both patients and personnel alike. Mary M. McNally, RN, director of infection prevention at Georgetown University Hospital summarizes the association's primary goals: to promote "cleanliness of the environment, vigilant hand hygiene, appropriate precautions, right choice and time antibiotics, and an immunized workforce."
Makes sense to us - prevention (don't let it start) beats control (oops, there goes one now) every time! Next time you're in a medical house of joy, keep a watchful eye on how well your attendees are paying attention
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7. IN MEMORIAM: DR. WILLIAM CLOSE, 1924 - 2009
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A PIONEER IN THE CONTAINMENT, IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT OF EBOLA He fashioned himself as a simple country physician, but his role in halting the Ebola outbreak in Zaire in 1976 and helping to define the cooperation ethic in battling epidemic threat cannot be overstated. Dr. William Close, father of actor Glen Close, was instrumental in influencing the military government of Zaire to aggressively confront the epidemic, and to provide medical equipment, supplies and support. Described by some scientists who were there as the "scariest epidemic" in their experience, the first Ebola appearance killed nearly 400 people out of about 600 infected. A hemorrhagic fever, with its characteristic multi-sited bleeding, Ebola virus, named after the nearby river in Africa, resulted in fatalities ranging in up to 90% of reported cases.  During his time in Africa, Dr. Close helped build several medical facilities, along with providing invaluable training to the local personnel. He later moved to a small community in rural Wyoming, and served for many years as the lone family physician to the entire region. Dr. William Close - an unsung medical giant who indirectly and quietly touched all our lives. [Still today, Ebola generates a macabre fascination with its "shepard's crook," (there are actual Ebola "groupies" out there), and it remains one of Infectious Awareables' perennial best sellers.] |
8. MEETING SCHEDULE 2009
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Because the skies have become considerably less friendly, not to mention that we have become a lot crankier, we have limited our 2009 meeting schedule to American Public Health Association (APHA), to be held in Philadelphia, PA, November 8 - 11, 2009. With apologies to our many friends at ASM (American Society for Microbiology).
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MOM'S DAY, DAD'S AND GRAD'S - SPECIAL OCCASIONS, ALL. ARE YOU READY TO UNLEASH YOUR INNER GIFT-GIVER SELF? WE CAN HELP, SO KEEP US EN GIFT0 DELECTO. WE'RE ALL OVER IT! UNTIL JUNE,
Awareably yours,
RPF
Roger P. Freeman, D.D.S. and the IA Team
Copyright 2009 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
Email:
roger@iawareables.com
Phone:
818.990.6264
Web: www.iawareables.com |
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