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1rem

Gary S. Marshall, MD; Shanna M. Barton, MD; Theresa M. Fiorito, MD

Patient, Provider, and Caregiver Connection™: Prevention and Control of Meningococcal Disease — Individualizing Vaccine Recommendations in Adolescent Populations

 prevention page contains news and information on the latest updates on all facets of infection prevention. From vaccinations and immunizations to controlling air and water flow in a health care system, preventing infections falls not only on the infection prevention staff, but on all who interact within the hospital, from environmental services teams to those planning and building new construction.   

Regulatory surveys in long-term care settings focus heavily on infection prevention, with F880 frequently cited. Facilities should ensure thorough infection control training for all staff and partners.

Understanding F880 and Infection Control in Long-Term Care Facilities

Infection preventionists face severe stress from prolonged crisis-mode work environments, highlighting the need for boundaries, support, and self-compassion to restore personal well-being.

A Call for Balance: The Toll of Chronic Stress on Infection Preventionists

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending October 27, 2024.

Weekly Rounds: Implementing Enhanced Barrier Precautions, Urgent Findings on Long COVID, and More

The past 5 years in medicine have seen significant advances in RNA vaccines, understanding immune dysregulation, and improved interspecialty communication, promising better disease eradication and tailored treatments.

Our Understanding of Immune Issues Is Evolving: Here Are 5 Reasons Why 

This Pathogen Pulse highlights: Whooping cough, oropouche fever, and avian influenza. Read on to get caught up on the latest. 

Pathogen Pulse: Updates on Whooping Cough, Oropouche Fever, and Avian Influenza

 Infection Prevention in Veterinary Medicine: A Growing Field with New Challenges

Bluedot Veterinary infection prevention

 has increasingly become a focal point in the conversation about infection prevention. During an interview with 

 Andrea Thomas, DVN, PhD, director of epidemiology at BlueDot Global, and Mariana Portillo Torres, MD, infectious disease surveillance Manager at BlueDot Global, highlighted how the recent pandemic underscored the importance of preventing the spread of viruses between humans and animals. The transmission of diseases, such as COVID-19 and mpox, not only among humans but also to pets and wildlife, has opened up a wider discussion about zoonotic diseases—those that spread between animals and people.

“Thomas acknowledges that veterinarians often act as generalists, managing everything from surgery to routine checkups, all while trying to prevent the spread of infections. This tall order is why a more specialized focus on veterinary infection prevention is gaining traction. There is a growing recognition of the need to fill knowledge gaps, particularly with emerging diseases, and to create guidelines to help professionals avoid potential outbreaks.

“I think the current pandemic that we're still in has brought that to light,” Thomas told ICT. We had a new virus spreading between people, but it could also be passed to our pets. I think that alone has brought much attention to the need to prevent the sharing of viruses and pathogens 

…. That's a tall order, and it is great to know that this is a growing field and a growing…recognition of the need to fill those gaps and to have people who are dedicated to thinking about this problem, communicating around it, and developing guidelines because we don't always have those—especially with emerging infectious diseases—in veterinary health care.”

Thomas continued, “It's a lot to stay on top of. You're already treating the patients in front of you. [Still,] you also need to understand what could be coming your way that you need to prepare for. [It] is a tall order, and having professionals who are dedicated to monitoring those trends, getting ahead of them, and developing guidelines before they're needed, hopefully, is going to be a huge benefit to the field.”

for an estimated 75% of emerging infections

 has identified dozens of animal viruses that could become future public health threats. As Portillo Torres emphasizes, professionals dedicated to monitoring these threats and developing proactive guidelines will be essential for keeping both animals and humans safe.

“I think we should first of all…[improve] the air quality as well. [There are] many discussions into airborne pathogens, droplets versus aerosols that have been concealed to further prevent [pathogens]. Top [of the list will]be hand washing for many pathogens since that is another way of transmission.” Portillo Torres said.

Regarding recommendations for veterinary infection preventionists, the focus is on fundamental actions like air filtration, improved hand hygiene, and a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health. Portillo Torres also highlights the need to protect veterinary professionals, as they are often in direct contact with animals and their fluids, increasing their risk of exposure.

A key opportunity is also more vital collaboration between human and veterinary infection prevention teams. Learning from human health experiences can help enhance veterinary protocols, bridging gaps across both fields.

“Just like in health care, these are critical resources…We don't have enough of them in veterinary medicine either.” Thomas said. “There is a shortage, and we need to protect their health. That's absolutely critical…And I do think there are gaps. It is an area that hasn't had as much focus as it has for human health. It's also asking a lot for public health to take on that responsibility, too, where there may not be as much expertise. Having a dedicated veterinary infection prevention training [and having] guidelines developed, building that field up would be valuable across multiple fronts.”

Both Thomas and Portillo Torres see opportunities for a stronger collaboration between human and veterinary infection prevention teams. Thomas said, “This whole conversation is how we're all connected. We can't have a separation between human and animal health, so I think it will have to be very cross-collaborative.”

Veterinary medicine's growing focus on infection prevention aims to address zoonotic disease risks, emphasizing specialized training, proactive guidelines, and collaboration between human and veterinary health teams.


 Infection Prevention in Veterinary Medicine: A Growing Field With New Challenges

Peter Rabinowitz, MD, MPH, discusses how climate change, 

How Climate Change Impact Is Changing Infectious Disease Patterns

This article first appeared in our sister brand, 

Warmer weather and the sharp ups and downs of wetter conditions from floods and hurricanes and drier conditions from drought are changing where and when certain infectious diseases occur — and clinicians need to be on the lookout for them, says Peter Rabinowitz, MD, MPH, a professor of environmental and occupational health sciences and director of the University of Washington School of Public Health Center for One Health Research in Seattle. Rabinowitz was a speaker at 2 sessions on climate change year at the 2024 ID Week meeting in Los Angeles, California, held from October 16 -20, 2024.

Rabinowitz, who trained as a family physician, said it is essential for clinicians to know how climate change alters infectious diseases. As the climate becomes more volatile, diseases not typically seen in certain areas may start to occur and become common.

For example, warmer weather will mean an increase in some areas of mosquito-borne diseases, such as dengue fever, Zika, and chikungunya, Rabinowitz said in an interview with 

Rabinowitz told MHE that wet conditions after flooding from hurricanes and other extreme weather events are likely to make leptospirosis more common

 Leptospira bacteria cause leptospirosis in animals' urine, and flood waters can become contaminated with the urine of infected animals.

 altering the who, where, and when of infectious diseases. They can change the range of ticks and, therefore, the risk of tick-borne disease, said Rabinowitz, who is also codirector of UW Alliance for Pandemic Preparedness. 

He noted that extensive periods of dry weather can also mean the emergence of dust-borne diseases, such as Valley fever. Valley fever, also called coccidioidomycosis, is a lung infection caused by inhaling the spores from the 

 fungus that lives in the soil in dry areas of the US.

Peter Rabinowitz, MD, MPH, discusses how climate change, including extreme weather and temperature shifts, is reshaping the spread of infectious diseases like dengue, leptospirosis, and Valley fever.


Conference

A Specialist’s Perspective on Clean Hospitals: Insights from Andreea Capilna, MD, PhD

CLean Hospitals Andreea caplina

 annually on October 20 has become a month-long celebration of remembering how important environmental hygiene is for hospitals. In this insightful interview, Andreea Capilna, MD, PhD, an Infectious Diseases specialist at Regina Maria Military Hospital Brașov, Romania, shares her involvement with the Clean Hospitals initiative. Capilna discusses her journey into infection prevention and control (IPC) and how Clean Hospitals plays a crucial role in maintaining hygiene in health care facilities. She also provides a comparative analysis of infection control protocols in Romania versus other European countries, along with her thoughts on team collaboration, especially highlighting the often-overlooked role of cleaning personnel in patient care.

: How are you involved with Clean Hospitals? How did you get involved, and what is your position?

 (PhD) many years ago in Geneva [Switzerland]. I also met 

 in Geneva many years ago. They launched this initiative in 2017, I guess, when I participated in some of their meetings, I was more than honored and very curious to see the topics and discussions during these meetings. I was very impressed because they started to discuss about cleanliness and clean hospitals, which was a very basic idea, but I realized at that moment that it was one of the most important issues and topics to apply in the activity of the hospitals. And I realized at that time that [making sure we have] clean hospitals is one of the major problems, and it's one of the major challenges for us as professionals in infection prevention and control. And I'm very happy for this [initiative].

I met again, Professor Pittet and Alexandra some years after the first meeting, and I participated in the promotion of Clean Hospitals during some of the international events in this field of infection prevention and control (IPC). And I was more than honored to be part of the first train the trainers’ session in Malaysia in January this year, and after that, in Geneva, trying to highlight the importance of the good cleaning of the hospitals, and mainly the importance of training of the personnel or form the cleaning In the hospital

: You are an infectious disease doctor. What exactly do you do, and how does your work coincide with Clean Hospitals?

I'm an infectious disease doctor, but I'm also a specialist in IPC. I came to this team mainly as a person with experience and expertise in the prevention and control of infections in low—and middle-income countries. It's very important to know how to act, how to train people, and how to clean hospitals in countries where resources are not unlimited and where we have to be very cautious about the use and availability of this product.

: How are infectious disease prevention and the protocols that are used in Romania? How do they differ from other countries across Europe?

We are very much aligned to the national and the international guidelines, and we are following the European and also the American guidelines. So, in theory, we are very well prepared, and hopefully, during the last year, we will also have legislation that supports the availability and applicability of these guidelines. We still have to work a lot on compliance and on understanding the importance of applying cleaning and hygiene measures. And I think that the signs of communism, where we lived for so many years, are sometimes still among us.

: I understand. So how will you and perhaps your hospital, your facility, celebrate Clean Hospitals Day?

I just want to tell you how we celebrated last year because we tried to offer to the cleaning personnel, some presents, just showing them their importance and showing them our gratitude for their involvement in the healing process of the patients because they are together with the nurses, with the doctors, with all the health care professionals. It was a very emotional and beautiful moment because they realized they were very important to us.

This year, we are trying to do something similar, but we will evolve apart from the cleaning personnel, also the nurses because their activity is so close to the patients, and so much involved in caring and taking or curing the patients is very important for us, and we just want to highlight that we are a team that we cannot work one without the others, and it's very important to be there in the same time with a lot of responsibility and compliance in applying the good medical practices rules.

's readers and listeners about Clean Hospitals?

I would like to say that everybody's work is very important in the good functioning of the hospitals, all the personnel or the medical or the caring personnel. It's very important there, and we have to act as a team and we have to support each other because we are there to help patients and to give the best quality of medical care. And I just want to say that I realized during these last years, even if I'm a doctor in [infectious disease] and IPC, that it's very important to have Clean Hospitals and to apply all the rules regarding the air, the water, the laundry, the waste management and so on because all these small details can change dramatically the evolution and the care of the patients.

: Do you have anything else you would like to add?

Yes, I would like to add that hand hygiene and clean hospitals are 2 important initiatives, and applying the good medical practices rule, rules coming from this concept can change and can improve dramatically the outcome of our patients.

Andreea Capilna, MD, PhD, an infectious disease and infection control and prevention doctor for the Regina Maria Military Hospital in Braşov, România, highlights the importance of infection prevention and the critical role of cleaning personnel in maintaining hygiene standards in hospitals.

A Specialist’s Perspective on Clean Hospitals: Insights From Andreea Capilna, MD, PhD

Infection Control Today's (ICT's) Editorial Board members

Meet Priya Pandya-Orozco, DNP, MSN, RN, PHN, CIC.

's) Editorial Board members—a diverse group of professionals dedicated to advancing infection prevention and control practices. This series highlights each member's unique expertise and contributions to the field.

From groundbreaking research to innovative strategies, these experts are at the forefront of enhancing health care safety. Join us as we learn their insights, experiences, and visions for the future, providing valuable knowledge and inspiration to elevate infection control protocols.

In this installment, we hear from Bernadette “Priya” Pandya-Orozco, DNP, MSN, RN, PHN, CIC, is the manager for infection prevention at O'Connor Hospital, which is part of the County of Santa Clara Hospital and Health System.

My name is Priya Pandya-Orozco, and I am an infection prevention and control manager. My journey started in infection control quite a long time ago. I would say it was about 26-27 years ago, [and] I was in labor and delivery and doing my care as a bedside nurse. I started thinking about how infection can spread from just not wearing appropriate PPE [personal protective equipment], maybe at the birthing when a patient is about to eminently give birth.

I thought about ideas for how I could wear PPE. I remember thinking there was some talk about how sometimes putting PPE on can remove the connection with your patient. And I thought, but we need to protect ourselves. And how do you do that? And how can you explain it?

So, it was my first thought as a new nurse—thinking about what and how I protect myself from infections. How do I ensure that I'm also protecting my patient? And that's where my brain started, like morphing into, what was it? I didn't even know at the time, honestly, that there was this whole infection prevention department, and that feels like a complete blackout in my mind, like I should have known that I was going to be my passion, my love, for the rest of my life.

That was quite a long time ago. Then, I went into public health and worked there for about 7 years. I worked on communicable disease and immunization services, seeing prevention at the front line and looking at how we reach communities that are at risk. And that was another love of mine.

Then, in 2009, H1N1 hit, and we also had some pertussis outbreaks. Infection prevention in the acute care hospital was such a solid partner with public health. I thought, “Oh, wow. Wouldn't it be great if I could join that force there in the acute care setting?”

So, I did, and I joined and followed them. This is where I ended up. I ended up as a manager later on, and I started as a baby infection preventionist. I was trained and mentored by some amazing bosses who helped guide and steer me in the right direction, and I've ended up here and am very happy.

So, trending topics right now for me are focused on environmental cleaning and disinfection, as I'm sure everybody else is. Still, I'm looking—and I have been for a very long time—with the instructions for use [IFU] by the manufacturers, and they're very difficult to comprehend. I've found some that have been so difficult to understand. The grammar is incorrect. It doesn't fit a hospital. They are marketing to a hospital but provide information or instructions only done in a home; they don't get clear guidelines.

So those things concern me because I am thinking about newer IPs. How do you navigate that? How do you figure out how to get the manufacturer to give you something doable for the frontline, and then with the focus of reducing the number of disinfectants in a hospital, to 3 or 4 and one being sporicidal you want to reach out and just say, “Can we have one that does it all?” Because it's just so hard, and you want to make the frontline have an easier process.

The whole point of cleaning and disinfection is that we shouldn't make it more complicated with 19 different products that have to be utilized when they don't all kill the same pathogen. You can't say that you have a clean environment if you find out later [that] you have a high-level or high-priority pathogen, like 

 and you’re not utilizing a disinfectant that would kill [those pathogens].

Everybody knows you come to the hospital, and maybe, on day 1 or day 2 of your admission, we start to see you have symptoms of a certain pathogen. How, then, are we supposed to go back and look at what has come in and out of the room and is not properly disinfected?

So, those are the things that are difficult. We're trying to make a focused effort to educate our frontline, [and] everybody, even all our hospital staff and providers, about what cleaning and disinfection are, how to use the products effectively, and give visual aids to everyone so that they have it at their fingertips.

Some of the hot topics coming out again are similar to the manufacturers IFUs, looking and going, and I know there's a lot of work at APIC [Association for Professionals in Infection Prevention and Epidemiology] to lean in and say, “This is what we need to do.”

What Should ICT Cover in the Next 18 Months?

There was a recent paper on the IFU, and that was helpful. We educated our leadership on that, and that helped tremendously. But sometimes you're underwater with anything happening, and you don't know that these things are above your head and circling, and you need to be looking at those pieces.

But how do you give people even more education to like newer IPs, or even seasoned IPs, and say, here's a repository that needs to go out? I want to say, it's a memo. I think it'd be nice to have things [like the] health alert networks in different states. So, we have 

 here in California, so it'd be interesting if we had something like a CAHAN message that came out through 

 and said, “This is something that you could send out.” And it would be like an SBAR [Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation] to share with everyone, taking this as what it is. Instead of the IP having to make the message when it's the same message, we're saying there's a way to summarize it generally. I think about those things because I try to make them general.

After all, we serve many different areas, including subacute, SNFs [skilled nursing facilities], hospitals, and clinics, and we want to make sure that it meets their needs and what they can utilize. When we give instructions on…how we want them to take this information and share it with the frontline, I think that might be extremely helpful.

I think I should also focus on what cleaning and disinfection are. We are partners with—and I have always said this--I'm partners with SPD [sterile processing department] and EVS [environmental services], walking in. Because you need to know how everyone who's cleaning instrumentation and who's cleaning our environment. You need to understand what their hardships are. What training are they receiving? You need to be a part of those trainings. Those are difficult to be a part of when you're trying to do surveillance and keep up with everything; it will help you in the long run if you partner with those wonderful teammates in EVS and SPD.

Meet the experts shaping infection prevention: Infection Control Today's Editorial Board members share insights, experiences, and cutting-edge strategies to enhance health care safety and quality. Meet Priya Pandya-Orozco, DNP, MSN, RN, PHN, CIC.

Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Advisory Board Member: Priya Pandya-Orozco, DNP, MSN, RN, PHN, CIC

In this installment, we hear from Tommy Davis, PhD, ACHE, APIC, BLS, the CEO and principal officer of High Disinfection Consulting, LLC, in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.

Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Board Member: Tommy Davis, PhD, ACHE, APIC, BLS

My name is Tommy Davis. I am a retired trauma chaplain for the sheriff's department. I decided to go back into environmental infection control because this is how I put myself through college. During college, I worked as a housekeeper and a meat packer. I worked for different meat packing companies in the environmental services (EVS) department, and our job was to ensure that our meats were safe to eat and consume.

I put myself through college. So, when I went to be a trauma chaplain, I went to a seminary, earned my master's degree, became a chaplain, and earned my doctorate in organizational management. But at the same time, I wanted to study epidemiology. I got into studying epidemiology and began to take courses on infection control. I found out that upon my retirement, this was a career that I wanted to go into.

So, I began to study epidemiology and earn some certificates under the curriculum of Johns Hopkins University study with the Tulane School of Medicine contact hours. I did 100…a lot of hours on this. When I rejoined the EVS department, some directors and managers were functioning in the danger zone. What I mean by that is they were using unauthorized chemicals. They were using the same toilet brush for 

rooms and other isolation rooms, and they were spreading germs all over the place.

It really bothered me, and so I decided to get back into EVS and join health care to play a part and limit eliminating health care-associated infections (HAIs). I work with several different companies now. I work with a hospital in Raleigh, North Carolina, helping them reach the next level. I'm making contributions that would make patients and personnel safer and have better management practices regarding housekeepers, the trends I see in infection prevention. And it's staggering.

Some of the latest studies I have identified talk about a 20 to 40% assumption infection rate regarding environmental contamination of environmental surfaces. Okay, we're talking about surfaces not being cleaned properly and people not performing hand hygiene. So, you know, scholars are trying to pinpoint within that 20 or 40% range the infection rate when it comes to cross-contamination, and the trend that I'm seeing among professionals, and we're talking particularly health care support groups, our people are coming in. They're trying to get more education relative to infection prevention due to COVID-19.

COVID-19 was a very scary time for the world, and we needed to devise a plan to deal with not just COVID-19 but everything else that we should have paid more attention to. And so EVS directors and infection preventionists (IPs) with a nursing background are getting more education to put themselves in a position to fight against our infections, which is very important. But we do have some people out there who want a job. They're not concerned about the numbers and things of that nature.

 magazine comes in because we can educate those willing to get ahead of what may come next, and I think that's very important right now. I consider myself an EVS expert. You know, I'm not. I don't have a nursing background. I've studied epidemiology, studying the behavior of pathogens and how those pathogens can be eliminated. And the magazine is positioned to educate EVS practitioners on the importance of disease elimination in cleaning.

Most of our IPs have a nursing background, and that's okay, but the backbone of infection control and surface decontamination falls within EVS. If we cover more regarding the correct disinfectants, when to clean, when to provide a disinfectant, and what kind of disinfectant to deploy, I think that will be very important.

Throughout my experience, I've seen EVS directors deploy chemicals that do nothing for the pathogen, and it had very, very disastrous effects. This must stop, and not because they want to do anything to harm patients or healthcare personnel. They didn't know, and I believe that the magazine can help eliminate our health care environment's problems by covering more issues dealing with environmental services.

I love this opportunity to be able to do this because I look at my career as a trauma chaplain. I've dealt with cognitive issues all the time and some of the same stuff I'm dealing with now in the healthcare environment. But we're in a time when the disease will be with us, and I believe it will require a new form of expert EVS researchers. Know people who can work with epidemiologists and microbiologists. You know, these are areas that we can come together to make sure that when a patient comes within our facility, that patient will not leave with something they didn't come in there with. Only we can do that on our end if we provide an environment that is not a harbor of anything dangerous to the patient or staff. It's very important for me to share my knowledge over the years in this very important magazine, and I'm delighted to be a part of anything you do.

Meet the experts shaping infection prevention: Infection Control Today's Editorial Board members share insights, experiences, and cutting-edge strategies to enhance health care safety and quality. Meet Tommy Davis, PhD, ACHE, APIC, BLS.


Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Advisory Board: Tommy Davis, PhD, ACHE, APIC, BLS

Dr Matthew Pullen at the University of Minnesota. Fungal Infections

Fungal Disease Awareness Week is celebrated from September 16 to 24, 2024, and to discuss fungal infections, 

) spoke with Matthew Pullen, infectious disease physician and assistant professor of infectious diseases and international medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. He is also a member of 

During the conversation, Pullen discusses the treatment of fungal diseases and antifungals, One Health, neglected tropical fungal diseases, fungal pneumonias, and, finally, what the future of fungal diseases could be.

He also discusses his recent trip to the Mycoses Study Group Education & Research Consortium (MSGERC), which was held in Colorado Springs from September 4 to 6, 2024.

“The Mycoses Study group is a cool, high-functioning group of clinicians, researchers, residents, and fellows in the medical community whose main focus is fungal disease,” Pullen told 

. “Every 2 years, they have a big conference where we talk about advances in clinical trials, advances in new antifungal medications, hot topics that will be coming up in the next couple of years.”

Pullen also spoke about the app he created for the Mycosis Study Group, which he presented at the consortium. 

 he has created to help research infectious diseases. This will be a wonderful resource for everyone worldwide.

“The Mycosis study group has a website called 

. It's freely available to everyone, and they envisioned it as the go-to resource for clinical fungal disease. You can find all kinds of good information about fungal infections, treatments for those infections, diagnostic techniques for different infections,” Pullen said. “I modeled this app on things like the Johns Hopkins antibiotic guide. It's a high-yield resource you can keep on your phone and use day-to-day in the hospital. So, I have taken a lot of the information from Dr fungus and turned it into the Doctor Fungus app. We will also use it to connect clinicians out in the field to clinical trials that are recruiting.”

The conversation carried over to antifungals, and Pullen discussed the study he has recently launched to learn more about how successful antifungal treatment is and how often it is being used instead of the “old boilerplate medications.”

“[The study is] called the Prospective Nationwide Study of Endemic Mycosis. It's an online recruitment study nationwide. Anyone who's had any of those 3 infections in the last three months can join. Essentially, it's an online survey they fill out that goes over when they were diagnosed, what sort of symptoms they had when they were diagnosed, what treatment they were given, what treatment they're on now, and then a few questions about risk factors for disease. Then, every month, they'll get a much shorter survey that will query them about, you know, how you've been doing on your antifungal medication. Have you had to switch? And if you have had to switch, why was it side effects? Was it a worsening infection? The goal is that over the next few years, we'll get a lot of real-world data on antifungals and be able to answer a lot of the questions that doctors and patients have about antifungals.

“So, if anyone watching this has antifungal patients, or if they are an antifungal patient, 

 where you can go to get more information.

: A yeast infection caused by an overgrowth of 

, a type of yeast normally present in the body.

: A common fungal infection, often including athlete's foot, that affects the skin.

: A widespread fungal condition that impacts around 14% of the population.

: A lung infection typically affecting individuals with weakened immune systems.

: A lung infection caused by a fungus found in soil in certain regions of the U.S.

: A fungal infection that predominantly targets the lungs or brain.

: A lung infection caused by a fungus found in soil, bird droppings, and bat droppings, especially in some U.S. regions.

: A severe lung infection mainly affecting people with compromised immune systems.

: A severe eye infection that can threaten vision, sometimes resulting in eye loss.

Watch ICT's discussion with Matthew Pullen, MD, at the various fungal infections, including Candidasis, aspergillosis, and many others. He also talks about his recent trip to the MSGERC Conference. 

Fungal Disease Awareness Week Highlights Antifungal Advances and Resources 

Meet Shannon Simmons, DHSc, MPH, CIC. Infection Control Today's Editorial Advisory board member

Meet Shannon Simmons, DHSc, MPH, CIC.

This installment is from Shannon Simmons, DHSc, MPH, CIC, System Program Manager of Ambulatory Infection Prevention for CHRISTUS Health, Irving TX.

My name is Shannon Simmons. I am the program manager of ambulatory infection prevention, and my journey as an infection preventionist began in the microbiology lab. I have always been fascinated by microorganisms and everything they can do in the unseen world of microorganisms. I spent some time as a microbiologist and wanted to expand my knowledge. Getting a master's degree in public health exposed me to different options, and infection prevention sparked my interest. It fused my love for public health and bringing everyone together, structures, standards, and policies. It's not that cool, but it's something that I have an interest in, and I am also bringing in the side of microbiology.

That is where I started, and I got an opportunity to join a very big team of infection preventionists at a large county hospital. So, I got the best experience coming into infection prevention by being a part of that large team because we had nurses and other people who had come from laboratory backgrounds. These people had come from working in health departments. It was a very well-rounded team. Having such a large hospital and seeing so many things, I got the best experience of everything possible. I wish every new infection preventionist could go into a large hospital with a large team and learn from many people how to make infection prevention work for everyone; infection prevention is everyone's responsibility.

Having those different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences molded my career in infection prevention, the kind of things that I didn't think about because I don't have a nursing background; I was able to relate more to speaking with my colleagues and even the coming out of the bedside world, having a different, more epidemiological look at things, and understanding how the microorganism itself is even working to cause these issues that are happening that we physically see with people or in environments. This really brings everything together.

Meet the experts shaping infection prevention: Infection Control Today's Editorial Board members share insights, experiences, and cutting-edge strategies to enhance health care safety and quality. Meet Shannon Simmons, DHSc, MPH, CIC.

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