Hospital food kills 3, sickens 40 in Louisiana

Posted on May 10, 2010 by Douglas Powell

It’s bad enough to be in the hospital; it’s worse when the food at the hospital is what kills.

Louisiana state officials say they suspect food poisoning as the cause behind the weekend deaths of three patients at Pineville’s Central State Hospital.

Forty patients at the behavioral health hospital showed signs of gastrointestinal stress beginning around 6:30 a.m. Friday with the three deaths a 43-year-old woman, 41-year-old man and 52-year-old man happening late Friday night or early Saturday morning.

Two patients remain hospitalized at Huey P. Long Medical Center in Pineville. A total of 11 patients and four staff members were treated there for possible food-poisoning symptoms.

Families of babies who contracted E. coli sue UK hospital where staff did not wash their hands

Posted on April 29, 2010 by Douglas Powell

Being a handwashing nerd, I kept a close eye on the staff at Manhattan’s Mercy General when daughter Sorenne was born 17 months ago.

They were watching me. Whoever was the control desk and let a new parent or visitor into the security-controlled maternity ward would insist people properly wash their hands before advancing any further.

Not so everywhere.

The Daily Mail is reporting tonight that furious parents are suing a hospital where two babies died during an E. coli outbreak after it emerged staff probably spread the infection by not washing their hands.

Thirteen newborn babies contracted an antibiotic-resistant strain of the bug at the neonatal intensive care unit of Luton and Dunstable Hospital in Bedfordshire.

An official report says widespread breaches of infection control measures, such as poor hand-washing regimes and equipment cleaning, were the likely cause.

The parents of two infants who became critically ill but survived the 12-week E. coli outbreak in October 2008 are seeking undisclosed sums from the hospital over the long-term health implications.

Colette Beard, 31, and her husband Greg, 28, said their son Lewis (above, right) suffered ‘permanent damage’ from the infection after he was born 15 weeks early on September 15, 2008. He spent four months recovering.

Ireland: 1 in 3 don’t wash hands after toilet

Posted on December 18, 2009 by Douglas Powell

One of my graduate students, Manoelita Warkenten, did a great job this morning presenting a departmental seminar about the use of gross-out information to increase handwashing compliance rates in various settings.

Sarah Reasoner, another of my graduate students, who had already gone through the seminar fire, did an outstanding job prepping Manoelita. I didn’t have to do much. I like it that way.

Irish Health reports today that one in three people in Ireland don’t wash their hands after going to the toilet.

That’s gross.

UK toddler out of hospital after petting zoo kidney failure; 5th farm closes

Posted on September 25, 2009 by Douglas Powell

Todd Furnell (right), a two-year-old boy who suffered kidney failure following an E.coli outbreak at a petting farm was discharged from hospital after two weeks. Unfortunately his brother was still on a drip and too unwell to be released.

The Health Protection Agency said yesterday that a fifth farm has partially closed after identifying a further five cases of E. coli O157 in people who had visited Big Sheep and Little Cow Farm.

17 per cent of students used hand sanitizer during norovirus outbreak; NZ study reports same result

Posted on September 17, 2009 by Douglas Powell

“It looks pretty sweet. It looks awesome. That suit, it’s incredible.”

One of the best lines from the movie, Napolean Dynamite, and one that came to mind when I read about a New Zealand study that found 18 per cent of people at a hospital used a hand sanitizer.

We found 17 per cent of students during a norovirus outbreak at the University of Guelph used a prominently displayed hand sanitizer back in 2006.

Maybe that’s just the rate of people paying attention to handwashing. Who knows about these things? Our study was written up in the Chronicle of Higher Education today, with Ben making lots of pithy quotes.

The 2009 New Zealand study appeared in Eurosurveillance this morning and the abstract is below.

The hand hygiene behaviours of the public in response to the current H1N1 influenza pandemic 2009 (or other pandemics) have not previously been described. An observational study was undertaken to examine hand hygiene behaviours by people passing a hand sanitiser station in the foyer of a public hospital in New Zealand in August 2009. Of the 2,941 subjects observed, 449 (18.0%, 95% confidence interval: 16.6, 19.6) used the hand sanitiser. This is a far from optimal result in response to the health promotion initiatives in the setting of a pandemic. These findings suggest the need for more effective health promotion of hand hygiene and also provide baseline measurements for future evaluation of hygiene practices.

The Little Couple sanitizes their hands

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Megan Hardigree

On last night’s episode of the Little Couple, Tuesday nights on TLC, Dr. Jennifer Arnold and her husband, Bill Klein, showed the world clips of their every day lives: honey-do lists, visiting another little person, and giving speeches. The most interesting moments, in my opinion, were the hand hygiene opportunities.

Dr. Arnold works at Texas Children’s hospital as the Medical Director of Pediatric Simulation Center and Neonatologist in Texas Children’s Newborn Center. After seeing a patient, who was prematurely born, Dr. Arnold used an alcohol based hand sanitizer to clean her hands. I was very proud that TLC did not edit this content out. It is important for healthcare workers to wash/sanitize their hands before and after patient contact.

The next scene was of Bill cleaning up dog urine; I like to believe TLC chose to edit his handwashing out. Handwashing is necessary after bathroom use and after cleaning up others’ (including dogs) bathroom mess.

Are self-serve buffet restaurants in hospitals a good idea?

Posted on May 31, 2009 by Douglas Powell

Some employees at a U.K. hospital are saying the only buffet in a hospital should be named Jimmy (with an extra ‘t’ right, exactly as shown).

A new self-service buffet is making a pig’s breakfast of infection control at Coventry’s University Hospital, angry staff claim.

The help-yourself spread was unveiled at the hospital’s main restaurant last week and is open to workers, patients and visitors.

Shocked hospital workers say they were only warned about the change days earlier when a sign went up.

They claim the self-service system is a hygiene disaster waiting to happen.

Allowing sick patients to handle the food could quickly spread infections, such as the highly contagious norovirus sickness bug, staff say.

One angry worker told the Coventry Telegraph,

“I think it is disgusting. Patients have been coming in with catheters and drip tubes in and rummaging through the piles of toast. Who knows what infections they are bringing down from the wards.”

Craig Smith, spokesman for contractor ISS, said the self-service breakfast buffet was launched to offer its customers more choice after consultation with staff and visitors.

“It is not unusual to have a self-service restaurant in a hospital – it is in place in hospitals up and down the country.”

HACCP increases customer satisfaction

Posted on March 19, 2009 by Casey Jacob

The Eye of Dubai reports that the Tawam Hospital in Abu Dhabi has increased patient satisfaction by implementing a HACCP plan.

Were patients, staff, and guests previously dissatisfied with their foodborne illnesses, I wonder?

The CEO of the hospital, Mr. Michael E. Heindel, was quoted as saying,

“By implementing food safety audits and ensuring that staff at Tawam adhere to food safety standards and procedures we have been able to increase patient satisfaction and meet the [requirements for HACCP certification].”

The article, titled Taste and quality of hospital food on the rise, mentions several other improvements in the service of food at Tawam Hospital and seems to credit all of them to the HACCP plan.

It appears the culture of food safety stirring at the hospital has raised enthusiasm for improved quality of service overall.

To that, I say, “Hooray for HACCP.”

Latvia’s hospital-themed restaurant

Posted on October 14, 2008 by Douglas Powell

Amy and I just got back from another prenatal visit with the doc. She says everything is great, and we’ve checked out the facilities at the local hospital – doc says upon admittance, make sure to ask for one of the rooms with the hot tub.

The dining facilities aren’t quite so elaborate, although you can order from a menu and have it delivered within 30 minutes. And while I’m still hot on the idea of a Safe Food Café for dining and research, I won’t be pushing for a hospital-themed restaurant anytime soon. But that is exactly what opened in Riga, Latvia, where guests can dine on consulting beds, while being waited upon by nurses.

Depp donates to hospital

Posted on January 15, 2008 by Douglas Powell

The Daily Mail is reporting that actor Johnny Depp has secretly been giving back to the hospital that saved his little Lily-Rose, after the 8-year-old contracted E. coli and her kidneys failed last year.

Apparently, Depp gave the hospital £1 million ($2 million) of his own money. He also invited 5 doctors to see the London premiere of his most recent movie, Sweeney Todd.

And on November 29, unknown to the public, Depp spent four hours at the hospital telling bedtime stories to patients dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow after having his Pirates Of The Caribbean costume flown over from Los Angeles.

Sounds like an ideal candidate for a public service announcement (PSA) on foodborne illness.

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