The Art of Bacterial Warfare; February
2010; Scientific American Magazine; by B. Brett Finlay; 8 Page(s) Most bacteria are well-behaved companions. Indeed, if you are ever feeling lonely, remember that
the trillions of microbes living in and on the average human body outnumber the human cells by a ratio of 10 to one. Of all
the tens of thousands of known bacterial species, only about 100 are renegades that break the rules of peaceful coexistence
and make us sick. Collectively, those pathogens can cause a lot of trouble. Infectious diseases are the second leading
cause of death worldwide, and bacteria are well represented among the killers. Tuberculosis alone takes nearly two million
lives every year, and Yersinia pestis, infamous for causing bubonic plague, killed approximately one third of Europe’s
population in the 14th century. Investigators have made considerable progress over the past 100 years in taming some species
with antibiotics, but the harmful bacteria have also found ways to resist many of those drugs. It is an arms race that humans
have been losing of late, in part because we have not understood our enemy very well.
Click here to see the full article from Scientific American
This Perspective article was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and it has a nice mention
of the MRC (and ESAR-VHP).Health Care Volunteers and Disaster Response —
First, Be Prepared, Raina M. Merchant, M.D., Janet E. Leigh, B.D.S.,
D.M.D, and Nicole Lurie, M.D., M.S.P.H. New
England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 25 2010http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/NEJMp1001737?query=TOC
New OSHA
videos provide proper respirator fit and use guidance OSHA has produced two new videos
that feature training and guidance on respirator safety. The "Respirator Safety" video shows healthcare workers
how to correctly put on and take off respirators, such as N95s. The "Difference between Respirators and Surgical Masks"
video explains the particular uses for each one and how they prevent worker exposure to infectious diseases. Viewers can watch
both English and Spanish versions by visiting the Department of Labor's YouTube
site. http://www.youtube.com/usdepartmentoflabor#p/u/5/ovSLAuY8ib8 Note: This link takes one to the Dpt of Labor’s
YouTube site with multiple products available.
________________________________
This
link was passed on by another leader. The information is of general interest vs specifically emergency preparedness
or local public health lssues, but is worth the read as it has multiple applications in any nurse's practice.
http://www.painfoundation.org/learn/programs/military-veterans/ Hundreds of thousands of troops are returning from the
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of them in acute pain and facing the possibility
of a lifetime of chronic pain. Written by a wounded Iraq war veteran in collaboration with pain management experts at
the American Pain Foundation, Exit Wounds and its companion website, offer veterans
and their families need-to-know information about:In addition to providing practical advice on pain management, the author shares his own
inspiring story of how one man, with the support of his family
and fellow vets, "locked on" to a mission to survive and thrive despite near-death and a painful path to recovery. Exit Wounds: A Survival Guide to Pain Management for
Returning Veterans and Their Families now available in print. Add to your Amazon Wish List today and be the first to receive a copy.
Read an excerpt today.
________________________________ Ready, Willing, and Able: Preparing Nurses to Respond to DisastersLaura A. Stokowski, RN, MS After a few years, most nurses will develop a certain level of comfort in their chosen field
of nursing practice. Our work may be more or less predictable, and we are confident in our ability to cope with whatever comes
through the door. So, how many nurses,
jumping into the middle of a disaster or mass casualty event, would be more boon than burden? Despite your desire to help,
how many of you would have a clue about how to triage patients exposed to a nuclear explosion or recognize the differences
between pneumonic plague and anthrax exposure? Does anyone feel that the occasional hospital-based disaster drill has sufficiently
prepared you to know how to decontaminate patients exposed to radioactive material when the water supply fails? If you learned
about emergency preparedness and disaster response in nursing school, you are among the lucky few. For the full article and CEU's: http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/579888
|
