Becker's Hospital Review

11 INFECTION CONTROL & PATIENT SAFETY 24 hospitals with highest, lowest post-op sepsis rates By Gabrielle Masson T he following hospitals had the highest and lowest rates of bloodstream infec- tions aer surgery in the U.S. e figures are taken from the "Complica- tions and Deaths - Hospital'' report on CMS' Hospital Compare website. Scores were collected from July 2016 through June 2018, the most recent data available. Hospitals with the lowest hospital-acquired infections scores ese 12 hospitals all had a "bloodstream infections aer surgery" score below 2.85, compared to the national rate of 5.09. Anne Arundel Medical Center (Annapolis, Md.) Cleveland Clinic Cookeville (Tenn.) Regional Medical Center Morristown (N.J.) Medical Center Naples (Fla.) Community Hospital Norton Hospital / Norton Healthcare Pavil- ion (Louisville, Ky.) Oklahoma Surgical Hospital (Tulsa) St. Mary's Regional Medical Center (Reno, Nev.) St. Charles Bend (Ore.) St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana (India- napolis) University Hospital (Augusta, Ga.) University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clin- ics (Madison) Hospitals with the highest hospital-acquired infections scores ese 12 hospitals all had a "bloodstream infections aer surgery" score above 9.14, compared to the national rate of 5.09. Augusta (Ga.) University Medical Center Franciscan Health Lafayette (Ind.) Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center (West Islip, N.Y.) Gulf Coast Regional Medical Center (Pana- ma City, Fla.) Highline Medical Center (Burien, Wash.) Lima (Ohio) Memorial Health System Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center (Mission Viejo, Calif.) OU Medicine (Oklahoma City, Okla.) St. Francis Medical Center (Peoria, Ill.) Salem (Ore.) Hospital Summerlin Hospital Medical Center (Las Vegas) University of New Mexico Hospital (Albu- querque) n Flu vaccine is about 45% effective, CDC says By Anuja Vaidya T he effectiveness of the current season's influenza vaccine is about 45 percent, according to a CDC report. The research team used the U.S. Influenza Vac- cine Effectiveness Network to examine data for 4,112 children and adults with acute respiratory illness from Oct. 23, 2019, to Jan. 25. They estimated that the current flu vaccine's effectiveness against both types of flu was 45 percent. They also estimated that the vaccine's effective- ness in preventing the B/Victoria strain was 50 percent and in preventing A(H1N1)pdm09 was 37 percent. The vaccine's effectiveness was higher among children and adolescents who are 6 months to 17 years old, than among adults. "Vaccine effectiveness estimates are con- sistent with those from previous seasons," researchers wrote. n Rural Americans at risk of HIV outbreaks amid opioid crisis By Mackenzie Bean M any communities in rural America are at risk of HIV out- breaks linked to intravenous drug use, yet few are taking proactive measures, according to a report from NPR in partnership with Kaiser Health News. The CDC has identified 220 counties nationwide that are vulnera- ble to HIV outbreaks based on overdose rates and the volume of prescription opioids sold in the area, among other factors. KHN found less than one-third of these counties have im- plemented syringe exchange programs, which provide drug users with clean needles to help reduce the spread of HIV and hepatitis C. Indiana serves as a prime example of this trend. In 2015, the 4,100-person town of Austin experienced the largest drug-relat- ed HIV outbreak in the state's history. HIV rates quickly skyrocket- ed, ultimately infecting 235 people. While the outbreak spurred Mike Pence — the state's Republican governor at the time — to legalize syringe exchange programs, only nine of the state's 92 counties currently operate one. Since then, drug-related outbreaks have occurred in other rural communities, even those with needle exchange programs, which demonstrates the difficulty of responding to the opioid epidem- ic's continued repercussions, NPR noted. n

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