Category: hospital associated infection

Norovirus 101

January 3, 2020.Reading time 8 minutes.

If you’ve been following local news in recent weeks, you may have seen stories about outbreaks of norovirus – a highly contagious virus that causes rapid onset of vomiting and diarrhea. Norovirus is the most common cause of acute, or short-term, gastroenteritis (inflammation of the stomach and intestines) in the country and is responsible for […]

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Aspergillus at Seattle Children’s and Public Health’s role in healthcare-associated infection (HAI) response

November 19, 2019.Reading time 10 minutes.

Update December 9, 2019 — At the November 21st King County Board of Health meeting (video link), Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County, announced his intention to make healthcare-associated Aspergillus infections reportable to Public Health in King County. This could help ensure all facilities are tracking and reporting […]

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New cases of Legionnaires’ Disease at Local Hospital

August 25, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

The University of Washington Medical Center (UWMC) has notified Public Health – Seattle & King County of two patients who were diagnosed with a serious type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease caused by infection with Legionella bacteria.  The patients’ medical histories suggest that exposure to Legionella happened while hospitalized at UWMC. The first patient, a male in his 40’s, […]

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