healthcare workers

WASHINGTON (MedPage Today) -- The FDA cautioned that postapproval changes made to a low-heat medical device sterilizer pose a safety threat to patients and healthcare workers alike.

Good hand hygiene among healthcare workers is an important factor in preventing the spread of disease, but exactly how important depends on an individual's job, researchers said.

ATLANTA (MedPage Today) -- Updated CDC guidelines for protecting healthcare workers from 2009 H1N1 influenza (swine flu) emphasize a global approach to infection control but retain a controversial recommendation for N95 respirators.

Plumes of virus-laden air shooting out from the masks of patients undergoing noninvasive ventilation could put healthcare workers at increased risk for infectious diseases such as the pandemic H1N1 (swine) flu, researchers said.

Surgical masks may be just as good as N95 respirators for protecting healthcare workers against the flu, according to a randomized clinical trial whose findings conflict with the only previous study.

SAN FRANCISCO (MedPage Today) -- Consistent use of N95 respirator masks prevents 75% of respiratory infections for high-risk healthcare workers regardless of whether seal against the skin is confirmed, according to the first randomized clinical trial of their efficacy.

SAN FRANCISCO (MedPage Today) -- Healthcare workers are just as likely to pick up Clostridium difficile spores from bed rails and other surfaces around a hospital room as from touching an infected patient's skin, researchers found.

TORONTO (MedPage Today) -- Healthcare workers should get first crack at a vaccine against the pandemic H1N1 influenza, the World Health Organization said today.

TORONTO (MedPage Today) -- Early evidence suggests that healthcare workers are not over-represented among those who have come down with the H1N1 flu, the CDC said, but that they may not have been vigilant about infection control practices.