Zika virus transmitted from patient to caregiver
From CBC News: A Utah man who became the first person in the continental U.S. to die after being infected with the Zika virus passed it to a (family member) caregiver. The man who died in late June caught the virus while travelling abroad to an area where mosquitoes are known to spread Zika and had an unusually high level of the virus in his blood, officials said. The exact cause of...
Emerging multidrug-resistant Candida auris: information on infection control practices
The following information was sent to PICNet's Community of Practice on July 14, 2016; you can also download the following information as a PDF. PICNet has also prepared a Q&A that you can view in our previous news post or as a PDF. Background The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Public Health Agency of Canada have recently raised an alert to an emerging multidrug-resistant (MDR) yeast, Candida auris (C....
Candida auris Q&A
PICNet has prepared the following Q&A to assist you with questions from staff or patients. You can also download this information as a PDF. View our subsequent news post for infection control and laboratory testing information. What is Candida auris? Is it a new type of infection? Candida auris is a type of Candida yeast. Candida yeasts normally live on the skin and mucous membranes but can cause yeast infections. C. auris was first identified in...
Antimicrobial drugs for livestock: proposed new rules
The federal government is proposing new rules for veterinary drugs used in livestock as it works to reduce human health risks associated with resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobials. Health Canada says the decreasing effectiveness of antimicrobials is having a significant impact on the government’s ability to protect Canadians from infectious diseases. “The overuse and misuse of antimicrobials in animals is a contributing factor to the development and spread of AMR (antimicrobial-resistance),”...
New hire at VGH: C. difficile-hunting dog
On July 5, after a year of intensive training culminating in exams he passed, English springer spaniel Angus will be introduced at Vancouver General Hospital as Canada’s first, and the world’s only current C. difficile hunter. He succeeds the world’s first C. diff sniffer, a beagle in the Netherlands named Cliff, who has retired. Angus uses his scent-tracking abilities to find toxins in the bacterial organisms that cause C. diff. infections...
Emerging global HAI-AMR issue: Candida auris
PHAC communication PHAC has recently learned of a public health alert from US CDC in relation to the global emergence of invasive infections caused by the multidrug-resistant yeast organism, Candida auris. While C. auris is not common, it can cause invasive infections associated with high mortality and has also been known to cause outbreaks in health-care facilities. Information available to date indicates that cases of C. auris have occurred in at least nine...
Opinion articles: preparedness for the next ‘pandemic’
Please note: Articles shared on the PICNet website do not necessarily represent the views of PICNet; we are posting these for your interest, and to present viewpoints that may bear consideration in provincial discussions. Two recent opinion articles of interest regarding pandemic preparedness: Jim Yong Kim: A plan to deal with the next pandemicThe Washington PostJim Yong Kim is president of the World Bank Group Annie Sparrow: Who isn't equipped for a pandemic or...