RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

(Report via Officialwire)A new disinfectant is effective against bacteria, viruses, fungi and prions, and could help reduce deadly infections in hospitals, German researchers say.

Researchers at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin developed a rapid-acting, practical formula for disinfecting surgical instruments, which works against a wide range of pathogens, including those that tolerate ordinary disinfectants.

(Report via Fierce Healthcare) Physicians tend to procrastinate on end-of-life talks with terminally ill patients, sometimes to the point where no other treatment options are available, a recent survey of doctors nationwide indicates, according to HealthDay.

(Report via HealthDay) New research in mice suggests that loss of smell could serve as an early indicator of Alzheimer’s disease.

People with Alzheimer’s are already known to suffer from loss of smell. But the new research pinpoints a direct link between development of amyloid plaques — the bits of gunk in the brain that cause Alzheimer’s disease — and a worsening sense of smell.

(Report via Healthleaders Media)Hospitals and long-term care facilities should be on the lookout for serious complications and risk of death resulting from use of negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) systems that can cause fatal bleeding and infections, said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in a Medwatch Safety Alert issued this week.

(Report via Fierce Healthcare)Two new studies published in today’s New England Journal of Medicine find that hospitals can prevent costly and deadly infections on patients getting ready to go into surgery, the New York Times reports.

Screening methods and various other pretreatment practices were shown to have significant effects as far as reducing infection rates of surgery patients. According to the Times, out of all the patients who suffer from post-surgical infections, more than half of those infections originate from bacteria already on those patients’ noses or skin.

(Report via Annals of Internal Medicine) The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) annually reviews the Recommended Adult Immunization Schedule (Figure) to ensure that the schedule reflects current recommendations for the licensed vaccines. In October 2009, ACIP approved the Adult Immunization Schedule for 2010, which includes several changes.

(Report via Medical News Today) A team of scientists in Germany has discovered a previously unknown gene in fruit flies that controls the metabolism of fat and showed that flies that have a defect in this gene, which they call “schlank” (the German for slim or lean), lose the ability to store fat in their bodies: the scientists say this discovery may lead to new treatments for obesity in humans because mammals have a group of genes that are structurally very similar to “schlank”.

(Report via Science Daily) Two in five at-risk American adults who would benefit from vaccination against seasonal flu are missing out on the protective shots because they believe they do not need them and are not inclined to be vaccinated. And among those who say they do intend to take up the vaccine, nearly half get around to it, according to Dr. Katharine Harris from the RAND Corporation in Arlington, USA, and her team.

(Report via Medical News Today) Babesiosis is a potentially dangerous parasitic disease transmitted by ticks and is common in the Northeast and the upper Midwest. Babesia lives inside of red blood cells, meaning it can also be transmitted through a blood transfusion from an infected but otherwise asymptomatic blood donor.

Now a new study led by researchers at Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals finds a dramatic increase in the number of transfusion-transmitted babesiosis cases (TTB), leading the investigators to call for a better screening test in blood donors living in areas of the country where babesiosis is prevalent.