A partnership between the Li Ka Shing Institute of Virology (LKSIOV) and the Southern Ontario Smart Computing Innovation Platform (SOSCIP) is bringing about a new wave of medical research at the University of Alberta. The partnership, announced April 5, gives LKSIOV researchers access to Canada’s fastest supercomputer. “Our institute has invested in the application of ‘supercomputational’ science to medical science … Read More
Hopkins begins nation’s first HIV-positive organ transplants
WASHINGTON – Surgeons in Baltimore for the first time have transplanted organs between an HIV-positive donor and HIV-positive recipients. It’s a long-awaited new option for patients with the AIDS virus whose kidneys or livers also are failing. Johns Hopkins University announced Wednesday that both recipients are recovering well after one received a kidney and the other a liver from a … Read More
FDA Proposes Ban on Most Powdered Medical Gloves
Today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a proposal to ban most powdered gloves in the United States. While use of these gloves is decreasing, they pose an unreasonable and substantial risk of illness or injury to healthcare providers, patients and other individuals who are exposed to them, which cannot be corrected through new or updated labeling. The proposed … Read More
‘Substantial proportion’ of U.S. measles cases linked to anti-vaxxers, study suggests’
A recently published study in the Journal of the American Medical Association says “the phenomenon of vaccine refusal” increases the risk for measles among individuals who are not or refuse to get vaccinated, and among those who are already fully vaccinated. Measles, a disease that was considered eliminated 16 years ago in the U.S., has made a comeback in which … Read More
Significant increase in flu-related deaths and hospitalizations across Alberta | Globalnews.ca
The south region has now reported its first flu-related death. In Calgary, Alberta Health Services says: Ten individuals have died after having lab-confirmed influenza at the time of death; None of the fatal cases had been immunized; Eight were between 18 and 64 years old; Two were over age 65; Two of the 10 fatal cases had A H3N2; seven … Read More
2015 Year in Review
2015 has been a year where we have been fortunate enough to be able to help a number of families recover their home from trauma or loss of a loved one. We really take pride in our work and will often go above and beyond to make sure that our clients and families are well taken care of. Every job … Read More
Vomiting machine reveals throwing up could send norovirus airborne
With the help of a vomiting machine, a new study has provided the first evidence that vomiting can send virus particles similar to those of the human norovirus airborne. The study provides the first evidence that vomiting could aerosolize the norovirus. North Carolina State University researchers state that their study, published in PLOS ONE, will have implications for better understanding … Read More
Home-brewed opiates serious public health concern – University of Alberta
For centuries, alcohol fermentation using sugar and yeast has been commonplace throughout the globe. Synthetic biologists have now gone much further. They have completed the key steps to turn yeast cells into microbial factories that can convert sugar into morphine. There is potential to produce other drugs, such as antibiotics and cancer therapies. In a recently published paper in Nature … Read More
Noroviruses Can Spread by Air
Noroviruses, a group of viruses responsible for more than half of global gastroenteritis cases, can spread by air up to several meters from an infected person according to a new study by Université Laval researchers. The discovery, details of which are presented in the latest issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests that measures applied in hospitals during gastroenteritis outbreaks may … Read More
Latest Outbreak Reminds Us of Reprocessing Imperatives, Prompts New and Pending Guidance
Following yet another highly publicized patient exposure to dangerous pathogens via contaminated endoscopes, the healthcare and sterile processing communities are examining their processes, re-evaluation… Read More: Latest Outbreak Reminds Us of Reprocessing Imperatives, Prompts New and Pending Guidance