Centers for Disease Control and Prevention news from FierceHealthcare
News
40 percent of Americans could be affected by H1N1 swine flu
The H1N1 flu could end up affecting as many as 40 percent of Americans, assuming one includes workers who stay home to care for family members or other loved ones who contract the illness, the CDC... Read more...
Healthcare workers catching swine flu on the job
It's not surprising, given the ongoing problems healthcare providers face with infection control, but still worth noting: A new bulletin from the CDC says that some healthcare workers are picking up... Read more...
CDC changes its tune on closing schools
Despite the first official death of a U.S. resident from the H1N1 influenza--aka, swine flu--the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that school systems and childcare... Read more...
CDC: Swine flu not as virulent as feared
Had enough of swine flu news? Maybe this will help calm things down. Officials with the CDC are now saying that after genetic analysis, the swine flu lacks the "virulence factors" that were seen in... Read more...
CDC: More than one-fifth of U.S. adults report disabilities
With the baby boomer population aging, among other factors, the number of U.S. citizens reporting disabilities has climbed substantially of late, and it's expected to keep expanding over the next two... Read more...
Trends: ED crowding may be pushing growth of urgent care centers
Over the past few years, emergency department crowding has grown steadily worse, with waits climbing to an average of 3.3 hours as of 2006, according to the CDC. Given these pressures on the ED,... Read more...
Hospital gown disposal procedure helps reduce MRSA cases
A simple new gown disposal procedure can dramatically reduce infection rates in hospitals, according new research findings presented at the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology over the weekend. The... Read more...
Google searches for the flu
Last year, a test showed that Google could pinpoint flu outbreaks up to two weeks faster than the CDC's tracking by using search terms. Now Google.org (Google's philanthropic branch) is actively... Read more...
U.S. not prepared for emerging diseases
We haven't had a severe outbreak of the flu or other type of illness in recent years, and yet 170,000 Americans die each year from new or re-emerging infectious diseases. A new report from the Trust... Read more...
Community MRSA getting more dangerous, CDC says
Until recently, the healthcare industry was primarily focused on fighting the spread of MRSA within hospitals and other health facilities. However, community-acquired MRSA is becoming increasingly... Read more...
