(NAPS)—The United States has shown great progress over the past several years in making hospitals cleaner, safer places for both patients and healthcare workers.1,2 This includes reducing the spread of bacteria and blood borne pathogens—also known as “bad germs”—from one person to another, a situation that medical professionals call “cross contamination”.3
Blood glucose testing is one of the most common tests performed on patients in hospitals. It is used to help monitor hospital patients by detecting high or low blood glucose. The individual test strips used to collect blood from each patient are commonly stored together in a single vial that—once opened—can collect bacteria and “bad germs” from the hands of many healthcare professionals and the patients they touch. Recent research has shown that up to 79 percent of blood-glucose test strips stored in open vials tested positive for bacteria.4,5
Fortunately, this type of cross contamination can be reduced in blood-glucose testing. To help, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have recommended that, whenever possible, healthcare professionals use blood-glucose medical and testing devices only one time and/or with only one patient. 6,7
Thanks to advances in blood-glucose test-strip packaging technology, it is possible for healthcare professionals to more easily comply with this recommendation. The global healthcare company Abbott has developed individually foil-wrapped blood-glucose test strips for use with their FreeStyle Precision Pro Blood Glucose and ß-Ketone Monitoring System™ to help protect the health and safety of patients and healthcare workers.
Abbott’s FreeStyle Precision Pro system blood-glucose test strips are one of the latest examples of medical supplies—others include ear thermometers, tongue depressors, syringes, and gauze—that are individually wrapped and disposable. This extra level of protection helps protect supplies from bacteria, and therefore reduces the risk of cross contamination in hospitals. Abbott is committed to helping people both get and stay healthy.
To learn more about FreeStyle Precision Pro Blood Glucose and ß-Ketone Monitoring System, visit abbott.com.
Hospitals are getting help protecting their patients from germs.
1 US Department of Health & Human Services. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/12/20141202a.html. Accessed December 2014.
2 US Department of Health & Human Services. http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2014pres/05/20140507a.html. Accessed January 2015.
3 http://www.cdc.gov/HAI/progress-report/index.html
4 Vanhaeren S et al. Bacteria contamination of glucose test strips: Not to be neglected (Letter to the editor). Am J Infect Control 2011;39:611-613.
5 Ng, Koo & Johnston 2012 Letter to the editor Clinica Chimica Acta. 3. Nichols J. 2012 Letter to the editor Clinica Chimica Acta.
6 http://www.cdc.gov/injectionsafety/providers/blood-glucose-monitoring_faqs.html
7 http://www.fda.gov/MedicalDevices/ProductsandMedicalProcedures/InVitroDiagnostics/ucm227935.htm
