Tori Whitacre Martonicz

Infection prevention may be built on evidence, but it thrives on empathy. During a recent Infection Control Today roundtable, in this third installment, veteran infection preventionists shared how emotional intelligence, communication, and systems thinking—not just clinical expertise—define the profession’s future.

In a postpandemic health system, infection preventionists are hired for certifications but kept for soft skills. In this second installment of ICT's roundtable, veteran IPs chart the shift from task-doer to systems leader, calling for smarter staffing, structured onboarding, and relationship-first programs to beat burnout and turnover.

Infection prevention’s future will be won with mentorship, soft skills, and honest collaboration—not just guidelines. In a candid roundtable, veteran IPs shared how to steady first-year practitioners: pair them with real mentors, teach time management and tough conversations, and build cultures that value “let me confirm” over guesswork.

When a nationwide blood-culture bottle shortage squeezed hospitals, a Stanford-led team turned to machine learning by building and openly sharing tools that predict which patients are most likely to have bacteremia and when a culture can be safely deferred. The simplest version works as a quick bedside score, no new software required.

A Bangladesh research team unveiled a suitcase-sized, point-of-care test that detects Nipah virus from respiratory patients in about 30 minutes, showing accuracy comparable to RT-PCR, and designed to bring rapid diagnosis and outbreak control to rural, low-resource settings.

From hand-hygiene audits to the SHEA Board of Trustees, the professional path of Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC, AL-CIP, traces the arc of modern infection prevention. The former hospital IP—now a University of Pittsburgh assistant professor—pairs frontline experience with genomic epidemiology to turn sequencing into outbreak-stopping action.

When Hurricane Helene flooded a North Carolina facility and sparked an IV fluid shortage, Duke’s stewardship network turned crisis into practice change—rapidly shifting eligible patients to highly bioavailable oral antibiotics and boosting PO use by 5.6% across participating hospitals.

At IDWeek in Atlanta, former CDC director Tom Frieden unveiled a crisp playbook for infection prevention—“See. Believe. Create.”—arguing it can help hospitals spot outbreaks sooner, reverse drug resistance, and drive HAIs toward zero. He paired the message with a 7-1-7 target: 7 days to find an outbreak, 1 to report, 7 to control.

What do schools need to prevent the spread of infectious diseases? Infection prevention experts and school staff in Nebraska present their collaboration at IDWeek2025.

California’s first locally acquired dengue case in 2023 triggered a rapid serosurveillance effort across Southern California—and IDWeek 2025 results suggest infections are underrecognized, with DENV-3 detected and widespread flavivirus cross-reactivity from West Nile virus complicating diagnosis.

Could Dollar General be Alabama’s next vaccination hub? At IDWeek 2025, John R. Bassler, MS, and colleagues showed that strategically pairing mobile clinics with DG stores could help close stubborn geographic vaccine gaps, especially in counties with higher social deprivation where traditional providers are scarce.

Hospital-wide sequencing of 8,567 Staphylococcus aureus isolates at NYU Langone revealed that many MRSA cases stem from tight community transmission networks—not in-hospital spread. Presented at IDWeek 2025, the work pinpoints distinct clusters (young MSM/substance-use networks, long-term care residents, and children) and urges IPC strategies that bridge hospital and community.

At IDWeek 2025, a Detroit consortium reported a familiar IPC paradox in skilled nursing facilities: Staff know the basics, but practice lags. Inconsistent rub times, dwell times, and respirator seal checks point to behavior-focused training—not more slides—as the next move.

A multifaceted infection-prevention push at a tertiary rehab ICU in the Upper Midwest reversed a rise in C difficile, lifting hand-hygiene adherence from 69% to 91% and cutting the C. diff standardized infection ratio from 1.6 to 0.4 over six months, researchers reported at IDWeek 2025 in Atlanta.

New IDWeek 2025 data show who C difficile kills most: White patients, women, and people in major metros—with most deaths tied to health care exposure—underscoring how basics and smarter antibiotics remain our best levers to cut mortality.

This year’s Clean Hospitals Day (October 20, 2025) is themed Human Factors and Collaboration. Peters’ team has built free, multilingual toolkits—posters, social tiles, screensavers—“really highlighting the fact that environmental service workers are health care workers.”

Get ready for Clean Hospitals Day on October 20. Join the low-cost facility network, nominate a hygiene champion, and bring one real-world challenge to the new expert working groups. Collaboration beats contamination.

Open Vaccine Track, find your metro, and pick one move this quarter—close an access gap, copy a local success, or launch targeted outreach. Small, data-driven steps in the right ZIP codes can shift adult vaccination faster than statewide averages ever will.

COVID-19 is back on the wastewater radar, but this fall’s bump does not look like a menacing new variant, says UMN infectious-diseases physician Matthew Pullen, MD. As CDC shifts to “shared decision-making” for vaccination—a move critics warn could slow access—his guidance stays simple: stay home when sick, and get the shot you can get now.

Mosquito season isn’t over—act today. Tip and toss standing water, wear EPA-registered repellent at dusk/dawn, and keep screens closed. Clinicians: add West Nile to summer/fall neuro workups, ask about Chagas risk, and report dead birds or suspected cases the same day.

Hepatitis B still ruins lives—and newborns are most at risk. Infectious diseases specialist Matthew Pullen, MD, calls early vaccination “a no-brainer,” noting perinatal transmission can lead to liver failure and cancer. He also discusses insurance issues to get treatments covered.

Let’s make measles prevention visible. One quick huddle, one clear sign, one easy clinic—each move keeps families safe and confident.

Measles is resurging as misinformation erodes herd immunity. Matthew Pullen, MD, explains how “immunologic amnesia” and antivaccine myths endanger children—and what infection preventionists must know.

Staph, TB, and rising respiratory viruses are keeping ERs busy. Here’s what infection preventionists should watch for this season—and why vigilance matters.

Ready to level up your knowledge of fungal infections and antifungal treatments? The newly launched Dr Fungus app designed by Matthew Pullen, MD, a member of ICT's Editorial Advisory Board, offers clinicians, researchers, and infection preventionists a free, practical resource, complete with case studies, medication guides, and trial updates.

Arlene Bush chats with Infection Control Today again. This time to chat about membership and one surprising learning opportunity.

This is the second of a 2-part conversation with CDC epidemiologist Danielle Rankin, PhD, MPH, CIC. In this installment, she dives into practical infection prevention strategies, surveillance challenges, and the urgent need for mechanism-specific testing as NDM-CRE surges in US health care settings.

This is the first of a 2-part conversation with CDC epidemiologist Danielle Rankin, PhD, MPH, CIC. In this installment, she unpacks her study about the urgent rise of NDM-CRE and what infection preventionists need to know now.

West Nile virus cases are 40% above average, but public concern is stagnant. IPs play a vital role in raising awareness and reinforcing mosquito-bite prevention.

A deadly Ebola outbreak has resurfaced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and while US risk remains low, the CDC and the WHO are urging the public and health care workers to stay on high alert.