Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that an alarming 30% increase in emergency department visits due to opioid overdoses throughout the United States from July 2016 through September 2017. We ALL need to take…
Beginning in October 2014, the New Jersey Department of Health investigated and confirmed fifteen patient transmissions of bacterial endocarditis after oral surgery treatment at the same oral surgery practice. During the investigation, breaches of recommended infection control standards were identified…
On September 19, 2017, Governor Brown in California signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1277 into law, which requires the Dental Board of California (DBC) to amend the regulations on the minimum standards for infection control to require water or other methods…
The Federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends, that all personal protective equipment (PPE), including gowns, lab coats, gloves, masks, and protective eyewear or face shield, to be worn…
With flu season upon us, dental staff should be screening patients for aerosol transmissible diseases (ATDs) such as influenza, measles, and tuberculosis prior to treating patients. In California, Cal/OSHA's Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard requires healthcare providers, including dental offices, to…
To coincide with World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5th, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) introduced a new campaign called Clean Hands Count to promote hand hygiene in healthcare settings. The aim of the new campaign…
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report on April 8th confirming the transmission of Mycobacterium abscessus among 20 pediatric dental patients from contaminated dental unit waterlines (DUWLs). The outbreak was caused by biofilm-contaminated water in…
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published new resources for infection prevention and control in dental settings. Entitled Summary of Infection Prevention Practices in Dental Settings: Basic Expectations for Safe Care, with a March 2016 publication date,…
In response to growing alarm surrounding the Zika virus, a mosquito-borne virus spreading rapidly in South America, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued two Zika health advisories, as well as posted online resources about the…
On February 1, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health advisory warning health practitioners and the public about increasing influenza activity across the nation. The most common flu strain circulating is H1N1, which caused the…
