I'm helping spread the word about Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) mostly because it's near and dear to me. If you aren't aware, there are three types of HAIs:
Ventilator - Associated Pneumonia (VAP) - VAP is the source of the highest morbidity and mortality of all HAIs. My two year old's condition worsened a year ago to the point of almost causing her death which was partially attributed to the VAP. For more information, click HERE.
Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) - Another one dear and near to me because three year's ago, my father was diagnosed with colon cancer. During his treatment, he developed a very painful infection in his tailbone related to a procedure. Any breach of a patient's skin can lead to infection and can turn deadly. To understand SSIs, click HERE.
Cross Contamination (Contact Transfer) is the number one source of HAIs. To read more, click HERE.
When someone develops an infection at a hospital or other patient care facility that they did not have prior to treatment, this is referred to as a healthcare-associated (sometimes hospital-acquired) infection (HAI).
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a global crisis affecting both patients and healthcare workers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at any point in time, 1.4 million people worldwide suffer from infections acquired in hospitals.
A Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report published in March-April 2007 estimated the number of U.S. deaths from healthcare associated infections in 2002 at 98,987.
As part of an ongoing commitment to quality care and infection prevention, nationwide doctors and hospitals are partnering with Kimberly-Clark to deliver continuing education programs on healthcare-associated infection (HAI) prevention to staff and management. As simple as education sounds, busy doctors and nurses on the front lines of delivering care can find it difficult to find the time to take advantage of scheduled programs within their hospitals.
Always remind your healthcare provide to wash his/her hand before touching you.
To read all about the campaign and access a wealth of resources, go to www.haiwatchnews.com.
In my e-mail this morning, was a good read by Dr. Mercola who advocates natural medicines and good common sense. This one focused on H1N1 which is of great concern to me and most others given the heightened media attention and not to mention the escalation of a "national emergency" declaration by our President. What I found interesting were some references to studies:
A thorough , comparative analysis of several flu pandemics has been published in the prestigious British Medical Journal, that gives evidence that the H1N1 swine flu is of "the same subtype as seasonal H1N1 that has been circulating since 1977."3 The author points out the substantial confusion between the high public attention the present H1N1 scare is receiving and the very low level of scientific certainty that H1N1 is more severe than other seasonal influenza.
For me, this is reassuring in itself as it's not a virus that has mutated into a vicous death squad.
Recent national polls have revealed that 30 to 50% in many communities are not planning to get a swine flu shot. Those who haven't made up their minds yet have lots of questions.
Again, I'm on the fence on this one. Our county hasn't received the vaccinations yet but I worry about the flu mist variety as it's a live virus and from what I've read, it makes those around vulnerable to catch H1N1 from the vaccination one. Note that this is the mist as the needle vaccination is not a live virus.
Additionally there was no reference made to the last swine flu epidemic in the US when 50 million people got the swine flu vaccine and more people died from the vaccine than the swine flu itself -- and that's not counting all those that developed permanent neurological damage.
I'm not sure where that statistic came from as there is no reference to show the proof but if true, that speaks a lot.
60 minutes segment acknowledges that many people born before 1950 have antibodies to the new H1N1 influenza and are naturally protected.
There is a new Canadian study that suggests those who have gotten seasonal influenza vaccines in the past may be at greater risk for getting H1N1 swine flu. This information reinforces NVIC's call for a comparison of the long term health outcomes of vaccinated and unvaccinated children.
There are more interesting facts, opinions and ways to prevent yourself from H1N1. I think it's important that everyone read both sides of the pro versus con sides of this vaccine and flu. I myself, am still pondering what to do.
To read more about Dr. Mercola's article, go here. He has part of the 60 minutes interview, an interview with a vaccine organization person and more.
