Tori Whitacre Martonicz, MA

This is the third in a series of articles based on ICT®'s exclusive interview with Oliver D. Kripfgans, PhD, FAIUM, about ultrasound transducer disinfection, and the consequences of using the incorrect type.

Despite the lessons learned from SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19, monkeypox is still spreading worldwide, and those lessons do not seem to be halting its progress. The WHO hopes to change that.

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

Bernadette Mazurek Melnyk, PhD, and her colleagues examined how COVID-19 affected infection preventionists’ mental and physical health, and in an exclusive interview, she discusses how facilities and IPs themselves can mitigate burnout.

Improper standards complicate cleaning and disinfecting and can represent a wasteful use of resources, specifically when facilities also may lack access to high-level technology.

While a few ultrasound procedures suggest increased instances of patient infections due to low-level disinfection techniques, statistically, results from peer-reviewed studies do not confirm this idea.

The report addresses how the US’s decisions on the pandemic generally increased antimicrobial resistance, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommendations for the future.

For terminal cleans, investigators studied the effect of UV-C disinfection added to chlorine-based disinfectants on the likelihood of MDRO transmission from the source occupant to subsequently exposed occupants.

The strength of The Association for Professionals and Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) is the volunteer members and the critical work they perform to assist both novice and veteran IPs.

Certain disinfecting cycles can be used to extend the frequency and use of single-use respirators, but how do they affect the respirator filtration efficiency?

Two patients were found with C auris in the CVAHCS beginning in October 2020, and a recent study describes how the facility handled the situation.

The 50-year-old Association for Professionals and Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) gives many tools to aid infection preventionists at any stage of their career with education, networking, and an annual conference.

In all areas, infection preventionists took on more responsibilities and expanded the ones they already had, including staff education and employee health.

Despite the initial reluctance for a urology team to work with infection preventionists, the collaboration is beneficial for both specialties.

They should be partners making each other and their patients safe through communication, education, and action plans.

If the policies are not consistently updated, they are “just a piece of paper shoved in a logbook that is not going to effectively improve reprocessing…of ultrasound probes,” said Lisa Waldowski, DNP, RN, CIC.

This recommendation comes at an critical time as this flu season is feared to be a rebound after the low numbers the last few years due to COVID-19 precautions.

Infection preventionists should take an active role supporting ambulatory partners to help them follow infection prevention and control practices.

Eradicating pathogens on both the floors throughout the hospital, especially patients’ rooms, and within the NICU isolettes is the focus of 2 posters presented at APIC 2022.

Investigators look for and find MRSA and C difficil widespread on floors, especially in patient rooms, and MRSA inside NICU isolette beds.

Recently, investigators studied the correlation between antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance using the J-SIPHE system. The results suggest that using the system may be beneficial for promoting antibiotic resistance measures antimicrobial stewardship implementation.

An IP can use their expertise to make decisions that will lead to cost savings and improved design flow.

The encouraging method used in the facility to raise the percentages was the answer to creating a positive response from the team.

Collaboration of a team from Inova Health with La Forma Medical developed an isolation gown that was cooler, better fitting, and more environmentally-friendly than disposables.

One key opinion leader speaks of infection prevention challenges with prone patients and benefits of centralized surveillance systems in 2 separate presentations at the APIC 2022 annual conference.

The infection preventionist’s role extends far beyond simply surveillance activities and into an integrated member of design and operations.

Despite the emphasis on more improved infection prevention practices, stethoscope hygiene continually falls short, possibly leading to more health care-acquired infections.

From language barriers to lack of equipment, environmental hygiene is suffering throughout the world.

Respiratory syncytial virus does have a monoclonal antibody; however, the cost limits the distribution to the highest income countries, and a more cost-effective preventative strategy is needed.

Over 50 health care facilities from 35 countries participated from both higher and lower income settings.