Norovirus (previously called “Norwalk-like viruses”), is an RNA virus of the Caliciviridae taxonomic family. The virus causes approximately 90% of epidemic non-bacterial outbreaks of gastroenteritis around the world, and is responsible for 50% of all foodborne outbreaks of gastroenteritis in the US. Norovirus affects people …
Abstract Aims To determine the transfer efficiency of micro-organisms from fomites to hands and the subsequent transfer from the fingertip to the lip. Methods and Results Volunteers hands were sampled after the normal usage of fomites seeded with a pooled culture of …
Doctors are running out of treatments for today’s trauma victims and critically ill patients because of infections due to drug resistant microbes – even after resorting to using medicines thrown out 20 years ago because of severe side effects, scientists reported at the Society for …
Leptospirosis is a serious but neglected emerging disease that infects humans through contaminated water. Research published in the May 2008 issue of the journal Microbiology showed for the first time how bacteria that cause the disease survive in the environment. Leptospirosis is a major public …
Developed more than 200 years ago and found in households around the world, chlorine bleach is among the most widely used disinfectants, yet scientists never have understood exactly how the familiar product kills bacteria. New research from the University of Michigan, however, reveals key details …
The life-threatening bacterium that causes diarrhea and more serious intestinal conditions, Clostridium difficile, is sickening many more patients than previously estimated, according to a new study released on November 11, 2008 by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC). “The National …
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) released (June 2007) initial results from a nationwide study of 1,237 U.S. healthcare facilities, examining the prevalence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a virulent multi-drug resistant organism. Findings demonstrate MRSA prevalence rates to be at …
According to Stephen Ashkin, the Ashkin Group, and the Pennsylvania Green Building Maintenance Manual: “Dr. Leonard Krilov with North Shore University Hospital – Cornell University Medical College … conducted [a study] at the Association for Children with Downs Syndrome School in Bellmore, New York [that] …
“Log reduction” is a mathematical term (as is “log increase”) used to show the relative number of live microbes eliminated from a surface by disinfecting or cleaning. For example, a “5-log reduction” means lowering the number of microorganisms by 100,000-fold, that is, if a …
ISSA, the worldwide cleaning industry association, and the Cleaning Industry Research Institute (CIRI) announced today that they have agreed to enter a long-term partnership for the cooperative development of science-based cleaning standards that would develop industry data, training, measurement, and certification programs. The first initiative …