Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

8 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY Cases of 3 STDs reach all-time high in the US By Anuja Vaidya C ases of syphilis, gonorrhea and chla- mydia in the U.S. reached an all-time high in 2018, according to a CDC report released Oct. 8. e CDC's Sexually Transmitted Disease Surveillance Report tracked and analyzed data on sexually transmitted diseases. From 2017 to 2018, there were 2.45 million combined cases of syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia in the country. Individually: • ere were more than 115,000 syphilis cases, of which the number of primary and secondary syphilis cases increased 14 per- cent to more than 35,000 cases, the highest number reported since 1991. • Gonorrhea cases increased 5 percent to more than 580,000 cases, also the highest number reported since 1991. • Chlamydia increased 3 percent to more than 1.7 million cases, the highest number ever reported to the CDC. ere was also a 40 percent increase in con- genital syphilis cases among newborns, with more than 1,300 cases reported. Congenital syphilis can cause severe complications and even death. e CDC attributed the overall rise in STDs to several factors, including drug use, poverty and unstable housing as well as budget cuts to STD programs at the state and local level. n Flu season may impede investigation of vaping illnesses By Mackenzie Bean T he 2019-20 flu season could com- plicate efforts to diagnose and track vaping-related lung illnesses in the U.S., health experts told STAT. The season will bring an uptick in flu and other respiratory illnesses, which often feature the same symptoms as the vaping illnesses, including short- ness of breath and cloudy spots on lung X-rays. "It's going to be difficult to tease apart a bad flu case and a vaping case," Sean Callahan, MD, a pulmonologist at Salt Lake City-based University of Utah Health, told STAT. The CDC is asking physicians to report suspected cases of vaping-related illness after they've ruled out the possi- bility of other illnesses, such as the flu. This process may become difficult for physicians if patients who report vaping also test positive for the flu or other re- spiratory illnesses, health officials said. The CDC recommends physicians as- sess patients with respiratory issues and a history of vaping for both respiratory infections and vaping-related illness- es, a CDC spokesperson told STAT. Physicians may need to treat patients for both illnesses if they cannot reach a definitive diagnosis. n Trump signs exec order on flu shot development By Mackenzie Bean P resident Donald Trump signed an executive order Sept. 19 to modernize the flu vaccine development process. e order will create a task force to promote new technologies that improve vaccine manufacturing and effectiveness. e goal is to reduce the nation's reliance on egg-based vaccine production, which is more time-consuming. "Improving the speed of production will enable experts to better match vaccines to ac- tively circulating viruses, an important piece of making the vaccines more effective," the Trump administration said in a news release. Along with streamlining vaccine production, the executive order also aims to boost Americans' access to seasonal flu vaccine services. n Vermont psych hospital cited after patient tries to swallow plastic bag By Mackenzie Bean C MS cited Brattleboro (Vt.) Retreat for giving patients access to plastic bags that could be used for self-harm, according to VTDigger. The citation relates to a June 13 incident in which staff members at the non- profit psychiatric hospital discovered a patient lying on the bathroom floor after attempting to swallow a plastic bag. The patient, who was previously deemed at a "moderate risk" for suicide, obtained the plastic bag from a locked trash can in the unit. Regulators placed the hospital on "immediate jeopardy" status July 25 after discovering several issues relating to self-harm risks and patient re- straint practices. CMS lifted this status within a few hours, after the hospital removed all plastic bags from the facility's trash cans. The hospital had previously only removed the plastic bags from the specific unit where the incident occurred, according to Meghan Baston, MSN, RN, chief nursing officer at Brattleboro Retreat. n

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