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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

Paul G. Auwaerter, MD, MBA; Paul P. Doghramji, MD, FAAFP; Aruna Subramanian, MD

Cases and Conversations™: Applying Best Practices to Prevent Shingles in Your Practice

 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.   

The Bug of the Month helps educate readers about existing and emerging pathogens that are clinically important in today's health care facilities.

Bug of the Month: The Rogue Eye Invader

Germitec, STERIS, ASP, and Zuno Medical are pioneering sterilization advancements with groundbreaking technologies that enhance SPD workflows, improve patient safety, and redefine infection control standards.

Pioneering Advances in Sterilization: The Future of Infection Control

According to new research, genomic surveillance is transforming health care-associated infection detection by identifying outbreaks earlier, enabling faster interventions, improving patient outcomes, and reducing costs.

Genomic Surveillance A New Frontier in Health  Care Outbreak Detection

Get Well’s digital patient engagement platform decreases hospital-acquired infection rates by 31%, improves patient education, and fosters involvement in personalized care plans through real-time interaction tools.

Point-of-Care Engagement in Long-Term Care Decreasing Infections

Supporting grieving colleagues can feel daunting, but small gestures of empathy and respect for boundaries can profoundly impact their healing while maintaining workplace connection.

When Words Fail: Navigating Workplace Support Through Empathy and Compassion

Revolutionizing Infection Prevention: AI-Driven UV Sanitization and Targeted Solutions

AI is reshaping health care, especially in infection prevention.

“There are a few factors that are important in the adoption of AI. One is the automation and the workflow process. We need to make AI as easy as possible to adopt.” Mohamed Noshad, PhD, founder of 

). He shares how Shyld’s autonomous UV sanitization system improves hospital hygiene. Traditional manual cleaning processes often need more consistency, leaving gaps in disinfection. Shyld AI's system uses AI to identify high-risk surfaces and deploy a directional UV beam for precise sanitization, achieving pathogen reduction within seconds.

“If you need a technology that takes a lot of labor, then it will be challenging because you need to retrain the personnel," Noshad said. "You need to change the workflows so that the load needs to be on the technology so that you go. It's seamless integration with what already exists, and small and large facilities can use that. The second part is the financial burden. If you're building something too expensive to build right now, there are technologies you know are costly. And then, if you need labor, that's another cost factor that comes into play.”

Noshad discussed what is needed to use AI to improve infection prevention. “When you think about the state of the art and existing practices for sanitizing surfaces and ensuring patients don't get exposed to…pathogens within the hospital environment,” Noshad said. “Right now, most of those processes are manual, so labor is involved. People go into the room and clean surfaces without visibility for the whole process. When something is mainly a manual process, consistency is a challenge. When you think about standard care, consistency, and ensuring all services are sanitized properly right now, that doesn't exist today within hospitals.”

The compact, room-installed device seamlessly integrates into workflows, enhancing patient safety without disrupting operations. Beyond infection control, Noshad envisions AI applications in patient monitoring, fall detection, and optimizing hospital operations, ultimately improving health care quality globally while reducing HAIs effectively and affordably.

Noshad said, “When we started Shyld AI, we had this vision that with AI, we can identify what services have the highest risk of containing pathogens by monitoring the behaviors and dynamics of the room simply, like you know what areas people are touching, what equipment they're using, and then tracking different items and objects and resources across multiple rooms, and based on that building, kind of a probabilistic model on what surfaces have the highest chance of containing those pathogens.”

Watch the video to hear the entire interview!

Shyld AI's autonomous UV sanitization system leverages AI to target high-risk surfaces, enhancing infection prevention, improving patient safety, and optimizing hospital workflows without disrupting operations.


Invivyd Presents Data on Pemgarda’s Efficacy Against COVID-19 Variants at IDWeek

Immunocompromised people are the most at risk to severe issues with At IDWeek in Las Angeles, California, 

, a COVID-19 prevention option with FDA Emergency Use Authorization, presented data demonstrating the efficacy of Pemgarda against COVID-19 strains dating back to the Omicron strain for immunocompromised people.

) caught up with Robert Allen, PhD, Invivyd's chief science officer. He explained the main takeaway from his presentation and discussed the 2 posters Invivyd presented at IDWeek.

“The main thing to give them data, empirical underpinnings, so that they can understand that this antibody, which is as an [emergency use authorization] for administration to immunocompromised individuals, right that this antibody has profound efficacy, during the course of canopy, has demonstrated efficacy during times when we saw when we look at the variants that were prevalent at the different time points in those 6 months…[many] different variants that have sort of evolved [to] continue to be susceptible to Pemgarda,” Allen said.

“The takeaway needs to be that when people think about recommending this for use in the context of transplant or individuals [who] are being administered compounds that lead to an immunocompromised state in the context of treatment for other diseases that they might be suffering from, those immunocompromised individuals could benefit from this in the eyes of their positions, and that conversation can be fueled by the confidence they have from seeing this data,” Allen said.

When asked what the IDWeek conference is like, Allen said, “I typically spend a lot of time at research meetings, and [I] was really excited for the opportunity to [go] and talk to health care providers and listen to how the epidemiology groups and others are talking about different pathogens, of course, and there's a lot of enthusiasm around the work that's been done in the clinic. Take, for example, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV); there have been [several] approvals for RSV vaccines and an antibody for the treatment of that disease. And then that, you know, things like that, where I can hear the epidemiologists and like the people from CDC talk about how policies are being put in place, and then use that as a context to think about where a company like Invyvid could position value in that context, right? And so that's been really interesting for me.”

At IDWeek, Invivyd highlighted Pemgarda’s effectiveness under FDA Emergency Use Authorization for immunocompromised patients, demonstrating efficacy against evolving COVID-19 variants since the Omicron strain.

Conference

Discovering Solutions for Long COVID: A T-Cell Immunology Breakthrough

, a biotechnology company specializing in diagnostic technology, is developing an advanced T-cell immunology platform to enable early diagnosis of post-viral syndromes like long COVID and conditions related to chronic inflammation and T-cell exhaustion.

In a recent interview, Virax Bio Labs Virax chief operating officer 

) about their T-Cell immunology technology. He discussed Virax’s pioneering work on a T-cell immunology platform designed to improve diagnostics for post-viral syndromes like long COVID. Current tests primarily detect acute infections, but there’s no standardized diagnostic tool to address the complex, chronic nature of long COVID. Virax Biolabs aims to fill this gap by focusing on immune system dysfunction, specifically T-cell activity, which is crucial in managing post-viral syndromes.

The company partnered with the University of Manchester to conduct a study to gain deeper insights into immune responses in COVID-19 patients. This research will specifically focus on individuals experiencing symptoms of long COVID. Utilizing the Virax T-cell assay, the study will longitudinally assess samples from a selected cohort to identify unique phenotypic T-cell profiles associated with these patients.

This collaboration represents a significant step toward understanding immune dysfunction in long COVID, potentially paving the way for more targeted diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for patients suffering from post-viral syndromes.

“Remember when we talk about long COVID, or we talk about post-viral syndromes, we're talking about symptoms that are so different,” McCracken said. “If you read a lot—and certainly in the US press and also in the UK press—[you see] people have been living with [Myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME)] or chronic fatigue syndrome for 40 [or] 50 years. I've got many, many people I know, as well as relatives [who] have had this [issue.]”

McCracken continued, “[The] interesting thing is, when you look at the symptoms, they're not all the same, but there's an awful lot of commonality around symptoms of long COVID and symptoms of ME, or even Lyme disease if Lyme disease is left for a long period, for things like chronic fatigue, a lot of the cognitive stuff, [and] the post-exercise fatigue and stuff.”

This groundbreaking work offers hope for patients struggling with post-viral conditions and highlights the importance of early detection and targeted therapies in managing chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction.

Virax also recently announced the distribution agreement with Europa Biosite to Commercialize ImmuneSelect in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Listen to this fascinating and enlightening interview to learn more.

Virax Biolabs collaborates with the University of Manchester to enhance T-cell diagnostics for long COVID, aiming to improve early detection and treatment of post-viral syndromes. Listen to this interview to learn more. 

Jenny Hayes, MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT, the director of infection prevention at Jefferson Health East Region in New Jersey

'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. Meet Jenny Hayes, MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT, the director of infection prevention for Jefferson Health—East Region, in Stratford, New Jersey.

MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT, the director of infection prevention at Jefferson Health East Region in New Jersey, has built an impressive career dedicated to infection control. Her journey began early in nursing when she noticed critical gaps in basic hygiene practices. Starting as an LPN and eventually advancing to a master's degree, Hayes observed firsthand the severe consequences of infection in different healthcare settings, including dialysis and critical care, where patients faced high risks of bloodstream infections. Her experiences shaped her commitment to infection prevention and led her to specialize in this field.

“I always knew that I think I would like to be the infection control nurse because they would come to our orientations at hospitals, or come and, do you know, certain educational seminars, and I always highly valued everything they had to say, and thought that's what I would like to do someday,” Hayes said.

In 2005, Hayes officially entered the infection prevention field, working in large academic health care facilities and outpatient settings. Her roles have included overseeing infection control protocols across more than 200 facilities and collaborating on facility design and construction projects to ensure proper infection prevention measures, such as hand hygiene accessibility and airflow in surgery centers.

Today, at Jefferson Health, Hayes monitors emerging infectious threats like Candida auris, a highly resistant fungus increasingly common in health care. She emphasizes the importance of vigilant surveillance and isolation protocols, particularly for patients from high-risk environments like long-term care facilities. Another focus is the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, both in health care and agriculture, which she warns could lead to a return to pre-antibiotic days if unchecked.

Hayes also sees potential in artificial intelligence (AI) for infection prevention. She hopes AI can streamline infection surveillance, allowing infection preventionists to focus more on hands-on prevention measures. As infection control continues to evolve, Hayes calls for greater emphasis on antibiotic stewardship and AI's role in infection prevention.

“How's [AI] going to play out for the role of the infection preventionist?” Hayes said, “Hopefully, it's going to allow the opportunity to get the infection preventionist closer to the bedside, closer to the procedural areas, really being able to engage in the hand hygiene observations, [personal protective equipment] usage, all the things that we preach about, and maybe perhaps you do some audits on, but it's difficult to be there in the moment. So, it may change the role of how you carry out your infection preventionist activities.”

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 Jenny Hayes, MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT. 


Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Advisory Board Member: Jenny Hayes, MSN, RN, CIC, CAIP, CASSPT

, Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC

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.

Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC, is the infection control coordinator at Penn State Health, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC, an infection preventionist at Hershey Medical Center since 2013, brings a wealth of experience in patient care, infection prevention, and public health. Her journey in health care began with her MD in 2001, followed by various clinical roles where she observed the impact of infections on patient outcomes. Motivated by a desire to make a broader impact, she pursued a master’s in public health in 2010, equipping her with essential tools to analyze health trends and design public health interventions. This transition marked her move from individual patient care to population-level health concerns.

“So, as an infection preventionist, I focus on developing and implementing protocols to reduce the incidence of health care-associated infections or HAIs. I do conduct infection surveillance, analyze data to identify infection trends, and educate health care staff on best practices. Over the years, I've seen the field evolve with advancement in technology. It significantly enhanced the ability to monitor and respond to infections, and I always seek to update my knowledge and skill to be updated and stay aware of emerging threats [and] new prevention strategies.”

Several current trends in infection prevention capture Attia's attention. One key area is antimicrobial stewardship, emphasizing the responsible use of antibiotics to combat antimicrobial resistance. This requires collaboration among physicians, pharmacists, and infection preventionists to ensure antibiotics are prescribed only when necessary. Additionally, advanced surveillance technologies enable real-time monitoring of infection patterns, providing insights that help prevent disease spread.

Attia also highlights the importance of robust infection control practices in outpatient and long-term care settings, particularly given the vulnerabilities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Enhanced cleaning and disinfection protocols, using technologies like UV light and hydrogen peroxide vapor, are increasingly standard to ensure safe health care environments.

Finally, she underscores the need for hand hygiene adherence, advocating for electronic monitoring systems to provide real-time feedback and encourage adherence. Attia's commitment to infection prevention reflects her dedication to creating a safer health care environment and addressing current and emerging infection control challenges.

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 Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC.

Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Advisory Board: Fibi Attia, MD, MPH, CIC

Andrea Thomas, PhD, DVM, MSc, BSC, director of epidemiology at BlueDot, discusses the resurgence of respiratory viruses, risks from avian influenza

Preparing for a Challenging Winter: Insights on Global Infectious Disease Trends

In a recent webinar, Andrea Thomas, PhD, DVM, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology at BlueDot at BlueDot Global, and her team provided insights into the current landscape of infectious diseases globally, focusing on respiratory pathogens impacting the Northern Hemisphere. To learn more, 

) attended the webinar and then interviewed Thomas about the details.

With seasonal viruses such as influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) resurging alongside the ever-present COVID-19, health care systems are preparing for what could be another challenging winter.

“This is the time of year where, at least in Northern Hemisphere countries, we anticipate the return of seasonal respiratory viruses like seasonal flu and RSV, among a number of others. And BlueDot does a lot of monitoring around the global circulation of these pathogens. And of course, we also keep a close eye on COVID-19, which is not seasonal, but often does have a significant rise in cases in the winter, when we also have flu and RSV and others.”

The Southern Hemisphere’s recent experiences indicate a return to prepandemic patterns, although COVID-19’s year-round presence continues to pressure health care infrastructure.

“[The webinar was] to help get ahead of the Northern Hemisphere season and to look at what we saw in the Southern Hemisphere, which can be informative to understand what we might expect in the Northern Hemisphere,” Thomas said.

The webinar emphasized the importance of monitoring global disease trends to anticipate and manage regional outbreaks effectively. Additionally, Thomas discussed the potential risks posed by avian influenza H5N1, which is now detected in dairy cattle and poses an increased risk of human spillovers in agriculture workers. Although H5N1 currently poses a low risk to the public, it highlights the ongoing need for comprehensive surveillance and vaccination strategies to mitigate potential cross-species transmission.

Thomas explained, “So we touched on that too, to talk about added challenges when it comes to surveillance, when it comes to monitoring closely to understand whether that [H5N1] virus might be changing or potentially, if we had worst case scenario, some spread from human to human, how hard that would be to pick up when we've also got all of these other respiratory diseases at the same time.”

Thomas then addressed the challenges posed by emerging and reemerging vector-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya. These diseases have shown significant spread in regions like Brazil and are now beginning to circulate locally in parts of the US. This increase in cases reinforces the importance of vector control and public health measures to limit local transmission.

Moreover, the discussion touched on the Marburg virus, a highly fatal hemorrhagic fever similar to Ebola. Although primarily endemic to certain parts of Africa, recent outbreaks have emphasized the need for global vigilance. Thomas highlighted the rapid deployment of trial vaccines in response to the latest outbreaks, underscoring the critical role of proactive research and preparedness in managing viral threats.

Infection preventionists and health care facilities can mitigate the impact of respiratory diseases this season by strengthening preventive measures and significantly enhancing ventilation systems to reduce airborne transmission. As Thomas noted, being proactive, rather than reactive, in infection control will be key to minimizing health care-associated infections and protecting health care workers and patients from severe illnesses during the upcoming high-risk winter season.

Andrea Thomas, PhD, DVM, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology at BlueDot, discusses the resurgence of respiratory viruses, like COVID-19, influenza, pneumonia, and risks from avian influenza, and the importance of proactive infection control to safeguard health care systems this winter.

Mpox Outbreaks and Preparedness: Key Takeaways for Infection Prevention Teams

BlueDot, an infectious disease surveillance company, recently hosted a webinar discussing the ongoing mpox outbreak, bringing attention to the current state of the outbreak, its spread, and important prevention strategies. To discuss the details of the webinar’s information, 

, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology at BlueDot Global, and Mariana Torres Portillo, MD, infectious disease surveillance manager at BlueDot Global.

Thomas and Torres Portillo explain that mpox, a zoonotic disease, has reemerged as a significant public health concern. BlueDot’s goal in hosting this webinar was to provide valuable insights into the international spread of mpox, identify risk regions, and shed light on the critical gaps in current knowledge surrounding the outbreak. Burundi, for example, has seen a surge in cases, and connectivity between countries remains a concern as it contributes to the virus spreading globally. The team highlighted that reported cases are likely underrepresenting the true scale of the outbreak due to challenges of inaccurate reporting.

“We wanted to give that little bit of perspective, as well as some of our clinical inputs. Discuss major gaps in the knowledge about this current outbreak on Clade 1 and...we wanted to call attention to the potential scale of the outbreak in the affected region, how complex it is, the lack of resources, and the need to get those to the areas that are most affected,” Torres Portillo told 

. “Because we know that we're all connected globally. And we wanted to also show where that connectivity was in relation to where we've seen cases popping up recently in other countries.”

The webinar emphasized several important points for infection prevention personnel. Firstly, the outbreak is likely much larger than reported, and many more countries may be affected. Second, there are gaps in researchers' understanding of transmission dynamics, with the current outbreak showing changes in demographics and transmission methods compared to previous outbreaks. 

 asked about what the status of mpox is right now, Torres Portillo said,“First of all, that the outbreak is substantially larger than what we know right now, and there might be more affected countries than what is being reported. Second, we need to understand a little bit more about transmissions and epidemic epidemics dynamics right now because there are some differences between what we saw with Clade 2 and with Clade 1. We are seeing a few changes in demographics, with children and women being largely affected, which is very different from what we saw in 2022 in the mpox outbreak."

Torres Portillo continued, "And then this outbreak as well is probably transmitting a lot through intimate and close contact in heterosexual adult networks. [However,] the conditions right now in the DRC [Democratic Republic of the Congo] and Burundi are complex. Third--and one of the biggest highlights for key takeaways--is that we are vaccine leaders. We are out of resources, and everyone should be focusing right now and then. We also need a little bit more of research and development to understand and better control what is going right now.” Torres Portillo said.

Health care settings should be proactive in diagnosing mpox by considering travel history, public health updates, and the use of appropriate diagnostic tools, especially as regular PCR tests may not detect the newer Clade of the virus. Effective isolation protocols must include provisions for household members and pets to prevent further transmission. Ongoing education and preparedness remain vital as this outbreak continues to evolve.

Overall, the mpox outbreak is complex and multifaceted, requiring coordinated efforts to control its spread. Infection prevention teams should remain vigilant, continuously update their protocols, and ensure they are well-prepared for potential future outbreaks.

“[T]his is a growing risk, [and] we should expect to see cases from the affected region and prepare for that…forward thinking and planning, but from everything we understand right now, I say we need to continue learning what we did for Clade 2 should be applied to Clade 1," Thomas said. "All the same, precautions that would have been in place for Clade 2 should apply to Clade 1. Full [personal protective equipment] is recommended whenever working with a suspected mpox case. It doesn't matter which Clade. This includes full airborne contact and droplet precaution conditions, and then also thinking about the cleaning.”

Andrea Thomas, PhD, DVM, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology, and Mariana Torres Portillo, MD, infectious disease surveillance manager, both at BlueDot Global, speak to ICT about the latest on mpox. 



Meet Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC.

, an assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh’s Division of Infectious Diseases, Center for Genomic Epidemiology, is dedicated to advancing the field of outbreak detection and investigation in health care settings through his research and utilization of whole genome sequencing surveillance.

My name is Alex Sundermann. Currently, I'm an assistant professor of epidemiology here at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, and my journey in infection control started many years ago at this school. My background is [that] I received my bachelor's degree in microbiology in 2013 from the University of Rochester. At that time, we were taking some classes on emerging pathogens and how infections spread, and, you know, the new pathogens that are arising, and that interested me, and I wasn't quite sure where I wanted to go in my career next. Of course, you do more education until you find out what you want to do. So, I came back here to my home in Pittsburgh, [Pennsylvania], and I started a master’s in public health and infectious diseases and microbiology.

At that time, I connected with some people across the street at UPMC who worked in infection control. The idea of infection control in a hospital was new to me. I didn't realize that people existed in the hospital whose sole purpose was to track infections. As they spread in the hospital, I looked at trends and tried to make interventions, which, in the end, was exactly what I wanted to do.

So, I [participated in a] volunteer program with them through my MPH [master of public health] degree. As soon as I graduated, they offered me a full-time position, and at the time, I was the only MPH person in the entire department full of nurses. So it was an interesting experience for me, where I got to learn, as we IPs say, trial by fire, of learning quickly and fast about how the hospital works, the ins and outs for someone who's never really been inside of a hospital, but it was a great multidisciplinary team, where we had people from the lab, we had nurses, and then I brought my new public health background.

I vividly remember one of the [times] looking into outbreaks. The idea of an outbreak was interesting to me. Outbreaks are unfortunate events, but to me, they also present a learning opportunity, as we like to say, because typically, we are taught what goes well, what's right, and what is the correct thing to do. But when there was an outbreak, something clearly went wrong. There was a big lapse in something, and that provided an interesting learning opportunity.

So, when I started, we had this large mucormycosis outbreak. These infections eventually affected our team and infection control, and I got to be heavily involved in tracing back to contaminated linens. The idea of investigating these outbreaks, trying to pinpoint a source, and doing all this environmental investigation just fascinated me and got me into more in-depth infection control.

 After that, the outbreak was resolved again, which we traced back to what we thought were clean linens. It made me want to continue my education and focus on outbreak investigation. So, while working as a full-time infection preventionist (IP), I returned to school here at the University of Pittsburgh part-time to get my doctorate in public health and epidemiology. I worked with a fabulous mentor, who I still work with today at the University of Pittsburgh, Dr. Lee Harrison [MD], where I worked on his grant to look at genomic surveillance and try to detect and investigate outbreaks. This approach is a bit different than what's currently done in hospitals, where typically, we think we have an outbreak, we investigate, we make interventions, and if we have the availability of genomics to confirm that outbreak, we can do it. But some hospitals don't. And oftentimes, we saw that there wasn't an outbreak.

Still, the approach that we started to investigate was to proactively do genomics on every infection to detect these outbreaks early, stop them from growing, and see the true breadth of outbreaks in hospitals. So, through many years of working as an IP and eventually working at Pitt (University of Pittsburgh), we could look at the extensiveness of outbreaks at our one hospital. And then, in a pivot, we started doing real-time Genomics at our hospital every week. Then my role as now an assistant professor here at the University of Pittsburgh is to take the data we generate through our research lab and translate it directly, each week, to our infection control team at our hospital to make these interventions to stop these outbreaks. So that's how I got to where I am today.

So, I still see myself originally as an IP, even though I work in academia right now. I just love this role because I can direct or directly translate research into applied practice every week and also look at how useful what we're doing in research. [Different] perspective, but in the hospital as well, and our hope together is to try to make this a standard practice in the future for all hospitals. And that's what I'm looking forward to doing as we move forward in the next few years. 

So, what do we see trending in infection prevention and control? That was a huge spoiler alert of what I just talked about.

We and some or a few others are not many people who do genomic surveillance routinely. There have been many studies that you know they'll sequence everything from isolates that they saved to infections that they've saved in the past. Those studies produce similar results, where if you sequence everything, you'll find tons of outbreaks that went undetected, and we, and maybe a couple of others, are the only few that prospectively make this approach. And what we have found, and what everyone else has found too, is that prospectively, when you do this, you can find outbreaks early and make these interventions. So, what I think will be happening in the next five years is that as these publications come through, hospitals will recognize that our current infection prevention methods miss many, many, many, many outbreaks going undetected. We are misdirected at what we think are outbreaks but aren't really outbreaks. So our hope is that we can show that not only can we find these outbreaks that go undetected, that we can stop them, we can prevent infections, but also that we can save money, which is what we have shown, which is what other people have shown, even by sequencing a bunch of infections, if you prevent just a handful of them, they are very expensive to treat. So, we can show that you save money in the long run by investing in this approach. And part of you know what. When we do that, we uncover interesting outbreaks, like again, there. You never want outbreaks to happen, but they always provide an opportunity to learn so ourselves here at UPMC; when we do this genomics approach, it points us in the direction of outbreaks. And we found outbreaks associated with like non sterile contrast preparation, associated with endoscopes, associated with wound care and other aspects of the hospital that if we were not doing genomic surveillance, we would have never caught so I think as more hospitals start to do genomic surveillance, it's going to start to reveal more interesting outbreaks that we never thought to look at before, and those are going to be very exciting and trending, I think, to see what are those outbreaks and what were these lapses that used to be standard practice, but because of genomic surveillance, we're now able to catch so I'm super excited to see what happens there and then for infection control today and the next couple of years, I really hope to talk about some of these interesting outbreaks as an outbreak researcher myself, for the hospital setting, anytime there's a new publication or something in the news about a new outbreak, it, I will read it in full, because, again, they are learning opportunities. We want to prevent tragic events, but if we can publish them and write about them, we can share with other hospitals what went wrong in that hospital, so those other hospitals don't make the same mistake. So, I'm hoping that in the next couple of years, I can start writing about some of these outbreaks that we see in the news and publications so that people at your hospital, hopefully, can read it, you know, do your investigation and make your prevention efforts so that it doesn't happen in your facility.

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 Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC.


Meet Infection Control Today's Editorial Board Member: Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC.

 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, DVM, PhD, MSc, BSc, director of epidemiology at BlueDot Global, and Mariana Torres Portillo, MD, infectious disease surveillance manager at BlueDot Global, highlighted how the recent COVID-19 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 that spread between animals and people.

Thomas acknowledged 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.

“The current pandemic that we’re still in has brought that to light,” Thomas told 

. We had a new virus spreading between people, but it could also be passed to our pets. That alone has brought a lot of attention to the need to prevent the sharing of viruses and pathogens between animals and humans….

 That’s a tall order, and it is great to know that this is a growing field and [that there is] a growing…recognition of the need to fill those gaps and 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.

“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,” Thomas continued.

For instance, zoonotic diseases account for an estimated 75% of emerging infections.

 Recent research from China has identified dozens of animal viruses that could become future public health threats.

 As Torres Portillo 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…[improve] the air quality…. [There are] many discussions into airborne pathogens, droplets vs aerosols, that have been concealed to further prevent [pathogens]. [At the] top [of the list will]be handwashing for many pathogens, [as] that is another way of transmission.” Torres Portillo said.

Regarding recommendations for veterinary infection preventionists, the focus is on fundamental actions, such as air filtration, improved hand hygiene, and a One Health approach that integrates human, animal, and environmental health. Torres Portillo also highlighted 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 a 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, [having] guidelines developed, [and] building that field up would be valuable across multiple fronts.”

Both Thomas and Torres Portillo see opportunities for a stronger collaboration between human and veterinary infection prevention teams. “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,” Thomas said.

Whitacre Martonicz T. Veterinary infection prevention: a discussion with Leslie Kollman, BS, CVT, CIC. 

. June 20, 2024. Accessed October 28, 2024. 

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/veterinary-infection-prevention-discussion-leslie-kollmann-bs-cvt-cic

’s editorial advisory board member: David Levine, PhD, DPT, MPH, FAPTA. 

. August 21, 2024. Accessed October 28, 2024. 

https://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/view/meet-infection-control-today-s-editorial-advisory-board-member-david-levine-phd-dpt-mph-fapta

Milbank C, Vira B. Wildmeat consumption and zoonotic spillover: contextualising disease emergence and policy responses. 

. 2022;6(5):e439-e448. doi:10.1016/S2542-5196(22)00064-X

Zhao, J, et al. Farmed fur animals harbour viruses with zoonotic spillover potential, 

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.


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