News & Events

News Brief: Presidential Advisory Council for Combating Antimicrobial Resistance Requests Public Feedback

May 26, 2016

The Presidential Advisory Council on Combatting Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria (PACCARB) has issued a public request for information (RFI) regarding antibiotic resistance and use. This RFI provides the opportunity to the public, including individuals, organizations, associations, and industries to provide their feedback.

News Brief: New BC-GN Outcomes Study Demonstrates Significant Reduction in Mortality

Apr 29, 2016

A new study by Tamar Walker et al from Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in 30-day mortality and mortality associated with multidrug-resistant organisms following the implementation of the Verigene® Gram-Negative Blood Culture Test (BC-GN).

News Brief: Q&A Provides Clinician's Perspective on the Value of Flexible Testing

Apr 7, 2016 | Nanosphere News

The recent introduction of flexible multiplex infectious disease testing for respiratory pathogens is allowing laboratorians the ability to better adapt the testing they can offer to the needs of their providers and patients. Bert Lopansri, M.D. is uniquely suited to speak on the impact of the changing landscapes of healthcare and the value of flexible testing from both the clinician’s and laboratorian’s perspective, serving as the Chief of Infectious Diseases and Medical Director of the Urban Central Regional Microbiology Lab at Intermountain Health.

News Brief: New Study Shows Decreased Length of Stay Following Implementation of Verigene BC-GP in a Pediatric Population

Mar 10, 2016 | Nanosphere News

A new study recently published by Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) illustrates the profound clinical and economic impact that rapid sepsis diagnostic testing with Nanosphere’s Verigene® Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test (BC-GP) can have in a pediatric setting.

Sewage Plants are Failing to Kill Lethal Superbugs Unleashed from Hospitals

Mar 7, 2016 | Los Angeles Times

Every day Southern California hospitals unleash millions of gallons of raw sewage into municipal sewers. The malodorous muck flows miles to one of the region's sewage plants, where it is treated with the rest of the area's waste and then released as clear water into a stream or directly to the Pacific. Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced they had discovered a lethal superbug — the same one that caused outbreaks at UCLA and two other Los Angeles-area hospitals — in sewage at one of those plants. They declined to name the facility. EPA scientists did not test treated wastewater flowing out of the plant to determine whether it still contained CRE, or carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae.

Some US Hospital Infections Dropping, But Superbug Risks Are High

Mar 3, 2016 | National Geographic

Fifteen years after a national report exposed how many Americans were being made sick and dying because of medical errors, some infections caused by hospitals are decreasing, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But in a report published Thursday, the agency warns that the incidence of other infections remains stubbornly high, despite fixes that are simple in some cases—and the proportion of them that are antibiotic-resistant is, in its director’s words, “chilling.”