Contaminated Alcohol Prep Pads and Infections

The FDA has announced a recall of ALL LOTS of ALCOHOL PREP PADS, ALCOHOL SWABS, and ALCOHOL SWABSTICKS manufactured by Triad Group due potential contamination of the products with Bacillus cereus, a bacteria that produces toxins that cause diarrhea, nausea and vomiting often related to food poisoning. FDA Recall Announcement.  This bacteria can cause serious injuries and death if it is introduced into the blood stream or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). The recall covers Triad Group brand alcohol swabs and others which are private labeled for many accounts to the consumer level. This recall also involves those products marked as STERILE as well as non-sterile products. This recall also includes the drugs and medical equipement in which it is co-packaged. 
Regular users of injectable medications, such as Copaxone or Betaseron for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), are at very high risk because they use the alcohol wipes daily and are asked to break the skin with an injection after exposing it to the bacterial contamination on Triad products.

The Food and Drug Administration says that use of contaminated Triad Alcohol Group Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs or Alcohol Swabsticks could lead to life-threatening infections, especially in at risk populations, including immune suppressed and surgical patients. Triad Group Alcohol Prep Pads, Alcohol Swabs and Alcohol Swabsticks are used to disinfect prior to an injection. They were distributed nationwide to retail pharmacies and are packaged in individual packets and sold in retail pharmacies in a box of 100 packets. The affected alcohol prep pads, alcohol swabs and alcohol swabsticks can be identified by either "Triad Group," listed as the manufacturer, or the products are manufactured for a third party and use the names listed below in their packaging:

Cardinal Health
PSS Select
VersaPro
Boca/ Ultilet
Moore Medical
Walgreens
CVS
Conzellin

But, the problem is bigger than just the prep pads and swabs for individual use. Triad Group also provides prep pads and swabs for inclusion in prepackaged drug and surgical instrument packets. Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have issued a Relistor warning because the drug was packaged with the contaminated Triad Group alcohol prep pads. The manufacturers indicate that there are no problems with the actual drug, but the packaged alcohol prep pads with Relistor should not be used. Some of these alcohol prep pads from Triad may have been included in U.S. packaging for ARIXTRA® Starter Kits manufactured by Glaxosmithkline.

The recalled Triad Group alcohol prep pad are also co-pckaged and distributed with the followiing Genentech, Inc. medicines in the United States: Boniva Injections, Fuzeon, Nutropn A.Q. Pen, Pegasys, and TNKase.

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm239319.htm

BIll Would Require MRSA Screening and Management in Maine Hospitals and Nursing Homes

Meg Haskell of the Bangor Daily News is reporting on new legislation in Maine that would require all hospitals and nursing homes in Maine to screen high-risk patients for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus  (MRSA)upon admission. If nasal cultures detected MRSA, patients would be isolated and staff and visitors would be required to observe contact precautions.
The bill from Rep. Adam Goode defines high-risk patients include those who are admitted from another hospital or nursing facility or who have been discharged from a hospital or nursing facility within one year; are admitted to the hospital intensive care unit; receive renal dialysis for kidney failure; have open lesions that appear to be infected; are admitted for joint replacement or cardiac surgery; or are admitted from a correctional facility.
In addition to MRSA screening and management, the bill would require hospitals to report MRSA data to the CDC's National Health Safety Network. Information on the prevalence of other drug-resistant organisms, such as Clostridium difficile, also would be collected and made public.
To read further from the Bangor Daily News, CLICK HERE.

APIC Updates MRSA Guide

The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) announces that it has published a second edition of its Guide to the Elimination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Transmission in Hospital Settings in an effort to provide the most current evidence-based practice guidance to protect patients from healthcare-associated infections. Developed by leading experts in infection prevention and hospital epidemiology, the revised guide includes updates and enhancements to the original APIC guide published in 2007. Additional references, resources, research findings and guidance are integrated into the best practice recommendations for effective hospital MRSA management programs.
MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics called beta-lactams. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Drug-resistant pathogens are a growing threat to all people, especially in healthcare settings. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 70 percent of the bacteria that cause hospital-associated infections are resistant to at least one of the drugs commonly used to treat them. In the U.S., MRSA is associated with an estimated 19,000 deaths and $3.2 billion to $4.2 billion in added costs annually.
"The human and financial impact of MRSA infections makes efforts to eliminate MRSA transmission in healthcare settings compelling and necessary," says Kathy Aureden, MS, MT (ASCP), SI, CIC, lead author of the guide and epidemiologist at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Illinois.
To learn more about the Guide to the Elimination of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Transmission in Hospital Settings and APIC’s extensive library of other elimination guides, as well as many more infection prevention resources,

http://www.apic.org/downloads/MRSA_elimination_guide_27030.pdf