Infection Control Today, June 2023, (Vol. 27 No. 5)

Connecting and networking with colleagues, finding the right resources, and joining key organizations can help you become a better infection preventionist.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today®’s highlights for the week ending July 30, 2023.

"If we want to influence our health care workers toward a shift in practice, we must first tackle the core beliefs that drive that behavior," writes Heather Saunders, MPH, RN, CIC.

Mold, a menacing presence that can grow within the walls of your facility, may be lurking and waiting to cause problems. Are you equipped to deal with it?

3D-Printed PPE in emergencies seemed like a great idea during the COVID-19 pandemic. But a recent study shows they could be a contamination risk to patients and staff.

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

Infection preventions across the United States and the world converge at the annual APIC conference to learn the newest information on IPC. Read this article on who else should go to learn how to prevent and control infections.

As more and more residents in long-term care facilities get Candida auris, infection preventionists must know how to prevent, prepare for, and control a C auris outbreak. An expert explains how.

SSI surveillance tracks infections that occur after surgery in the area where it was performed. How can facilities help prevent these infections?

A recent study offers potential solutions to the frequent occurrence of surgical site infections, despite the sterile environment of surgical fields.

To prevent the spread of C auris, the CDC recommends that IPs and environmental hygienists play a critical role. In this interview, the medical scientists clarify what specific actions they should take.

The fight for infection control and prevention (IPC) should be a global effort, and conferences play a crucial role in this fight. IPC conferences occur worldwide throughout the year, and a recent one focused on updates regarding antimicrobial resistance.

A study published in AJIC describes how one health care system implanted an initiative by their IPs to prevent the health care-acquired infections when COVID-19 loomed over their work.

In the infections the investigators examined, about 60% of the bacteria that cause these infections did have a carbapenemase gene. Did they find a mortality difference in those infections which did and didn’t?

Saskia v. Popescu, PhD, MPH, MA, CIC, gives the latest on COVID-19, Marburg Virus Disease, and a 1-hit STI antibiotic plan.

The CDC updated and simplified its vaccine recommendations on April 19, 2023, and the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA bivalent COVID-19 vaccines should be used for all vaccinations in the US.

Sulbactam-durlobactam is under priority review (PDUFA; May 29, 2023). 

One person has died of Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome caused by Hantavirus in New Mexico. What is it, and what can be done to protect individuals from being exposed to Hantavirus?

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are not getting documented as often as they occur, and the financial toll could be staggering. Two experts presented about what can be done to reduce SSIs on this topic and then spoke with Infection Control Today at the Association for PeriOperative Nurses (AORN) held in San Antonio, Texas, on April 1-4, 2023.

Two investigators from Australia spoke with ICT about how management tools can overcome health care worker reluctance and implement OR safety improvements.

Vangie Dennis, MSN, RN, CNOR, CMLSO, president of the Association of PeriOperative Nurses (AORN), discusses the goals she and the Board of Directors reached during her tenure, the future of AORN, and the annual conference in San Antonio, Texas.

The HAC and Hospital VBP penalties were suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but are now back in place. Are they forcing hospitals to rethink/reestablish previous practices, and what is the impact?