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Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA: “We have to remember that infection control and prevention is not just dealing with the pathogen itself but dealing with the consequences and the downstream effects of what happens when you are dealing with the pathogen.”

Moderna’s phase 3 trial data about its messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine will be presented tomorrow to the FDA’s advisory panel of experts who could then grant an emergency use authorization.

This non-prescription test allows users to perform and get results themselves without a medical provider or laboratory needed.

In essence, infection prevention and control isn’t just one measure, like personal protective equipment (PPE), but all of these layers. Each layer is imperfect but plays a critical role in reducing risk.

V-Safe and VAERS are 2 monitoring systems for patients who are given a COVID-19 vaccine. Infection preventionists can play a vital role in educating about the strengths and drawbacks of each.

Angela Rasmussen, PhD: “Even if you are in the first group to get the vaccine, even if the vaccine becomes available widely beyond the first groups that are going to get it, we still need to be wearing masks, social distancing, thinking about ventilation, and avoiding large gatherings for some time to come.”

Infection preventionists can work with environmental services (EVS) leadership to implement a routine practice for quality assurance checks that EVS leadership can follow. These metrics can then be reviewed as an aggregate with the IP department to target whether further education may be beneficial.

An advisory panel to the FDA voted 17-4, with 1 abstention, to tell the FDA to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. US Health and Human Services secretary Alex Azar says that approval may come in days.

Infection preventionists are an important component of fostering trust in the healthcare system and need to actively articulate to both patients and on social media the need to be vaccinated and to follow public health advice.

Sharon Ward-Fore, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC: “If it were my institution, I would make sure that infection preventionists are educated on everything they need to know about the COVID vaccine, as well as the flu vaccine side effects.”

At this point, since 2014, we all have improved our ability to respond to and prevent emerging infectious diseases, so why not make this practice a permanent part of infection control and not just one that comes up ad hoc?

Public acceptance of a COVID-19 vaccine is far from a lock. A nurse who participated in a trial for one of the vaccines up for FDA approval worries that side-effects will diminish uptake.

The FDA’s Related Biologic Products Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday will be the US’ first public forum on phase 3 data for a COVID-19 vaccine, a possible prelude to approval.

Compare transmission data for patients on contact precautions using the recommended full complement of PPE versus transmissions for patients on contact precautions when PPE was being utilized differently or not at all.

What’s the matter with Kansas? Well, for one thing, counties could choose whether to follow state health department guidelines on masking. COVID-19 case-count differences between counties that did and those that didn’t is striking.

Healthcare experts warn that we still have not felt the full effects of the surge that’s sure to come from the Thanksgiving holiday.

The CDC says that people without symptoms can stop quarantining on day 10 without getting a COVID-19 test. People who are tested and test negative, can stop quarantining on day 7.

Rebecca Leach: “I think the biggest thing is just having support, whoever it is. If it’s a fellow infection preventionist…. It really is that emotional support of being able to talk to each other about your experiences and really process your feelings.”

The United States recorded 3157 COVID-19 deaths yesterday, the highest number in a single day and more than 20% higher than the previous record of 2603 deaths set back on April 15.

Healthcare providers, according to the CDC advisory panel, includes workers at hospitals, outpatient clinics, long-term care facilities, public health agencies, home healthcare firms, pharmacies, and emergency medical services. About 24 million Americans in all.

When an 850-bed urban hospital fought off COVID-19 in part by having to relax infection prevention protocols, the opportunistic and deadly carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) struck.

Kevin Kavanagh, MD: “I would tell the Supreme Court that it’s very important that all high-risk venues are treated equally, but the remedy isn’t opening up one high-risk venue, the remedy should be closing down all high-risk venues.”

Susan E. Campbell, PhD, CIC: “In many cases, perhaps not all cases, but in many cases, infection preventionists can adapt what they know in the hospital setting and make it work in other settings.”

The photograph captures the human anguish caused by COVID-19. The elderly man just wanted to go home and see his wife for Thanksgiving. A doctor tried to comfort him.

Strategies are needed to reduce the risk of COVID transmission between the breastfeeding mother and newborn. Meanwhile, mask mandates work.

The CDC may lower the days someone needs to be quarantined because of COVID exposure from the current 14, to from 7 to 10 days. That range is troublesome: Which is it, 7 or 10?

CRAB has chameleon-like tendencies that allow it to absorb material from other organisms, and that allows it to ward off most antibiotics. It’s a Superbug.

The study states that “annual vaccination is necessary to maintain humoral immunity for the elderly population. Furthermore, our findings revealed that annual seasonal vaccination was not associated with reduced vaccine effectiveness….”

Susan E. Campbell, PhD, CIC, offers advice to infection preventionists and other healthcare professionals who’ll be working Thanksgiving on how to safely eat their holiday meal together.

Infection preventionists must brace themselves for a huge influx of COVID patients, as more data reveal just how formidable of a foe this novel coronavirus can be.