Frank Diamond

La’Titia Houston MPH, BSN, RN, CIC: “We work not only with the bedside nurses and the sterile processors, but even with our clinicians, our physicians. They want a timeout before the procedure is even performed because they want to ensure that the scope did pass during the high-level disinfection procedure.”

Confusion surrounding just who should get COVID-19 booster shots addressed in latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Kevin Kavanagh, MD: “The deer apparently live with COVID-19 quite well, but, yet rapidly spread it amongst the herds. And that’s actually very problematic, because if it finds a host that it doesn’t make sick, but yet it can mutate and change and then reinfect other animals and plus mankind, that is one of the worrisome scenarios that could take place.”

Health care professionals were getting vaccinated at a steady clip. Then came the drop-off. Now, only about 70% are fully vaccinated. Infection preventionists to the rescue?

Bug of the Month helps educate readers about existing and emerging pathogens of clinical importance in healthcare facilities today.

The CDC is expected to approve the move today. But some experts question: Does it go far enough? Shouldn’t everybody get a booster?

As part of infection prevention against COVID-19, schools spent millions of federal dollars trying to upgrade ventilation systems. That money has been ill-spent, warn some experts.

One of many presentations at the ISSA Show North America 2021 this week seeks to light an entrepreneurial fire under an old concept.

A hospital system in India was able to vaccinate 90% of health care workers in part by using role models, photos, and social media, according to a new study.

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) bioluminescence needs technological enhancement if it’s to reach its full potential as a disinfection tool, says a study.

All signs point to finally throwing off the dictatorship of the little spiky ball.

Crystal Heishman, MBA, MSN, RN, ONC, CIC: “You don’t ever want to go into a sterilization department and say, ‘You’re doing this wrong’. Because they’re the subject matter experts. You want to learn. You want to learn the process. You want to work together because it makes a stronger partnership.”

Doe Kley, RN, CIC, MPH,T-CHEST: “We just can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing with our singular focus on one pathogen. We know that while we were doing that—while we were so busy with COVID-19—other really dangerous and emerging pathogens got a foothold. The one that scares me the most is Candida auris.”

Darrel Hicks: “EVS teams work around professionals who are certified—whether it’s respiratory therapists, physical therapists, the RNs, the doctors—and I think if we ever hoped to elevate their status that we need to certify environmental services workers to a certain level of knowledge before they even start cleaning patient rooms.”

Bug of the Month helps educate readers about existing and emerging pathogens of clinical importance in healthcare facilities today.

Compared to cases confirmed by human clinical testing, the air sampling used in the college dorms in the study had a success rate of 75%–100% in detecting infection by SARS-CoV-2.

Jason Tetro, author of The Germ Code: “Moving forward, I think we’re going to be going into this idea of seasonality, or as I like to say, cold, flu and COVID-19 seasons.” And the so-called "monster variant"? It's already here, says Tetro. It's called Delta.

The UK Health Security Agency says that as of September 27, about 6% of sequencing tests in the UK tested positive for the Delta descendant—AY.4.2—which some scientists estimate may be 10% more infectious than original Delta.

More frequent testing and continuation of mitigation measures such as masking would better help to protect the more vulnerable among us such as Colin Powell, a study concludes.

Brian Flannigan: “The reason why water quality and water safety is so important in sterile processing is that there have been direct connections made between the water systems and hospital infections: operating room infections, asset life problems, maintenance problems, staining and discoloration of equipment.”

Anthony Harris, MD, MBA, MPH: “We know that mandates such [as the COVID-19 vaccine mandate] don’t exist in isolation. For any school age child that wants to attend public school, guess what? Be vaccinated. Likewise for universities, in many cases. If you’re living in a dormitory scenario. This is not a far cry from precedent that’s already been set.”

IAHCSMM’s Damien Berg: “COVID-19 put a light on sterile processing professionals in a positive way. We became a force multiplier in the hospital by the things we did. And we got known.”

Not only can pediatric patients of all ages carry high viral loads of SARS-CoV-2, but they can also serve as a means for the virus to mutate, according to a new study.

Vaccine hesitant health care professionals are most likely to be persuaded by fellow workers. Meanwhile, mandates can backfire.

As COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and mortality rates head downward, pediatric SARS-CoV-2 rates rise, and nursing homes can again become disaster zones. And remember: Winter is coming.

Infection preventionists and other health care providers need masks that can easily be fit-tested or are more moldable to ensure a good seal—Saskia v. Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, CIC.

University of Oxford investigators used contact tracing to conclude that vaccinated individuals are less likely to spread COVID-19 even if they become reinfected.

The efficacy of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine wanes 6 months after the second dose to about 50%, but not because of the Delta variant, according to a study in The Lancet.

As rates of infection, hospitalization, and deaths from COVID-19 plummet, we’re reminded that we’ve been here before. Too many Americans remain unvaccinated and too many questions about SARS-CoV-2 remain unanswered.

Bug of the Month helps educate readers about existing and emerging pathogens of clinical importance in healthcare facilities today.