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Kevin Kavanagh, MD, the founder of the patient advocaty group Health Watch USAsm, has been sounding the alarm about coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) from the beginning. He tells Infection Control Today® that it might be time for pool or community testing.

Infection preventionists and their skills will be in high demand in coming years in non-healthcare settings.

Connie Steed, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC: “Our goal at APIC, which is the goal of all IPs, is to have healthcare without infection. That’s an arduous task, but that is our vision and goal. And the infection preventionists’ role will help drive that vision.”

It’s when infection preventionists leave the hospital or go to get a coffee in the cafeteria, that behaviors can become lax. We opt to take breaks from masking, exhausted from it all.

The FDA issues guidance on just how pharmaceutical companies should go about the manufacture of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Investigators argue in the Annals of Internal Medicine that all healthcare workers in inpatient settings caring for COVID-19 patients should be equipped with N95s.

Fibi Attia, MD, the infection prevention coordinator at Penn State Milton S. Hersey Medical Center, says that the main challenge for infection preventionists in the COVID-19 pandemic is not knowing who might be carrying the disease.

Sometimes the surfaces that are deemed easiest to keep clean in a hospital pediatric ward wind up being the most contaminated after cleaning. Preconceived notions may play a part.

Stephanie Taylor, MD: “In general, airflow has been managed by the engineers, by the architects, by the facility managers, and not so much by the clinicians. There is a lot you can do in indoor air management to decrease transmission of infections.”

While the rest of the hospital bustles with energy as healthcare workers fight COVID-19, emergency departments have been oddly quiet because of the drop in elective surgeries.

Healthcare workers are particularly susceptible to maskne because they tend to wear their masks for extended periods.

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

Viruses like SARS-CoV-2 are some of the most vulnerable pathogens to the microbicidal agents in many detergents and cleaning solutions, including soaps for personal care and liquid hand washes. 

Charles Gerba, PhD: Environmental services plays a crucial-and often unsung-role in infection prevention. “Unfortunately, we don’t honor people enough for things they prevented or that never happened.”

Renovation or construction that happens in preexisting spaces or occupied areas have very different sets of challenges than the building of new facilities.

If you are on one of these medications one should perform strict social distancing and protect yourself from contracting COVID-19.

The study underscores just how much of a moving target COVID-19 remains.

Many studies have shown that disinfection of surfaces is suboptimal and effective disinfection requires not only an effective product but also, effective practice. The surface must be completely and thoroughly wiped with an adequate number of antimicrobial wipes effective against the target pathogen and a contact time specified by the label instructions.

Regulatory and public health agencies in the US provide clear guidance on what products may be used in outbreaks of emerging pathogens.

Seqirus announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Fluad Quadrivalent, touted as the first and only adjuvanted quadrivalent influenza vaccine, developed to help protect adults 65 years and older against seasonal influenza.

New technologies have emerged in EVS practices that infection preventionists can help review before a facility decides to implement.

Symptoms include difficult breathing, fever in a baby who is younger than 2 months, a fever that lasts for 3 days or longer, or fever that doesn’t respond to fever-fighting medication.

On average, copper beds harbored 94% fewer bacteria than conventional beds.

Alma Jackson, PhD, RN, COHN-S, discusses how to overcome this occupational hazard.