Epidemiologic investigation of a 2007 outbreak of Serratia marcescens bloodstream infection in Texas caused by contamination of syringes prefilled with heparin and saline.

This retrospective cohort study found that syringes prefilled with heparin flush solution caused an outbreak of Serratia marcescens bloodstream infection at an outpatient treatment center in Texas in 2007. The epidemiologic study supported this conclusion, despite the lack of microbiologic evidence of contamination from environmental and product testing. This report underscores the crucial contributions that epidemiologic studies can make to investigations of outbreaks that are possibly product related.

Deciding to opt out of childhood vaccination mandates.

Objectives: We explore the attitudes and beliefs of parents who consciously choose not to vaccinate their children and the ways in which these parents process information on the pros and cons of vaccines.

Design: In-depth, semistructured interviews were conducted.

Sample: The study population consisted of 25 parents who do not vaccinate their children, identified through snowball and targeted sampling.

Multistate outbreak of Burkholderia cenocepacia colonization and infection associated with the use of intrinsically contaminated alcohol-free mouthwash.

Background: No guidelines exist for the type of mouthwash that should be used in patients at increased risk for pneumonia. In 2005, we investigated a multistate outbreak of Burkholderia cenocepacia associated with an intrinsically contaminated alcohol-free mouthwash (AFM).

Methods: We conducted a case-series investigation.

School nurses as volunteers in a bioterrorism event.

Most public health departments do not have enough public health nurses to adequately respond to a bioterrorist attack or other large-scale health emergency and would need to look to volunteers to help with staffing needs in an emergency. The National Association of School Nurses supports the use of school nurses, a skilled workforce, as responders in a mass casualty event, whether it is naturally occurring or as a result of bioterrorism. This article explores the use of school nurses to supplement public health staff during an emergency.

Complementary and alternative medicine as represented in the HIV/AIDS body of knowledge: a bibliometric analysis.

Although the HIV/AIDS epidemic began more than twenty years ago, there still is no cure for the disease and no vaccine to prevent infection. As with the general population, individuals with HIV/AIDS have sought care using a variety of traditional and nontraditional approaches. The popularity of complementary and alternative interventions among the HIV/AIDS community continues.