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Zika virus is the first virus known to be transmitted to humans through the bite of an infected mosquito and through sex with an infected person. Over the course of 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO), along with the global research community, quickly built evidence that Zika virus transmission through sex was not only possible, but more common than previously assumed.  But many questions still remain unanswered: How long does the virus stay in the body? Could the virus remain dormant in a person and reappear at a later stage? WHO is coordinating a research study in Brazil, called ZikaBra, to address these questions. The answers will help WHO sharpen its recommendations on how best to prevent Zika virus infection.

Vaccinations have begun in a multi-site Phase 2/2b clinical trial testing an experimental DNA vaccine designed to protect against disease caused by Zika infection. The vaccine was developed by government scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID is leading the trial, which aims to enroll at least 2,490 healthy participants in areas of confirmed or potential active mosquito-transmitted Zika infection, including the continental United States and Puerto Rico, Brazil, Peru, Costa Rica, Panama and Mexico. The two-part trial, called VRC 705, further evaluates the vaccine’s safety and ability to stimulate an immune response in participants, and assesses the optimal dose for administration. It also will attempt to determine if the vaccine can effectively prevent disease caused by Zika infection.

Research teams from the National Institutes of Health and abroad have identified the first inhibitor of an enzyme long thought to be a potential drug target for fighting disease-causing parasites and bacteria. The teams, led by NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) and University of Tokyo scientists, sorted through more than 1 trillion small protein fragments called cyclic peptides to uncover two that could shut down the enzyme. The finding, reported April 3, 2017 in Nature Communications, could set the stage for the potential development of new types of antimicrobial drugs.

A team of researchers in the United States and Uganda has identified a novel coronavirus in a bat from Uganda that is similar to the one causing Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in people, giving further credence to the theory that such viruses originate in bats. The work, part of the United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT project, was described this week in mBio®, an online open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

A hospital's surgical services department represents one of the most sizable challenges to infection prevention and control. Surgery also presents a significant risk to patients, and together, the operating room should be on the infection preventionist's radar for healthcare-associated infection (HAI) mitigation and elimination. Research indicates that SSIs are the most common type of hospital-acquired infection. SSIs account for 20 percent of all infections that occur in the hospital setting. Although most patients recover from an SSI without any long-term consequences, they are at a two- to 11-fold increased risk of mortality. Furthermore, SSIs are the most costly of all hospital-acquired infections. With an annual estimated overall cost of $3 billion to $5 billion in the U.S., SSIs are associated with a nearly 10-day increased length of stay and an increase of $20,000 in the cost of hospitalization per admission. As many as 60 percent of SSIs are considered to be preventable. Now that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services no longer pays additional amounts for the cost of treating conditions acquired in a hospital, SSIs have been targeted not only to improve clinical quality, but also to protect hospital reimbursement.

When it comes to preventing infection in the perioperative environment, infection preventionists and perioperative nurses are strong allies. We collaborate to share our unique perspectives on patient safety and uncover little known dangers or risks that put our patients at increased risk for exposure to infectious disease. However, there is a dangerous vehicle for infection transmission in the OR that is lurking right under our noses, literally-that danger is surgical smoke.

The quality and vitality of the operating room is often a balance between managing patients known or suspected with infectious disease and managing potential staff occupational exposure risks associated with treating patients.  With exposure risks to emerging and re-emerging microorganisms at an unparalleled high, measuring, analyzing, and preventing exposures among surgical staff is more important now than ever.

In a recent online survey of ICT readers, 73 percent of respondents indicated that they are involved in infection prevention-related product evaluation and/or purchasing for their healthcare institution, confirming the findings of Hoeksema (2011) who emphasizes that perioperative nurses play a key role in evaluating product safety, effectiveness and efficiency, environmental concerns, and cost and how these factors affect patient care. Well-informed product evaluation and purchasing is a significant way for hospitals to combat rising expenses in an environment of moderate reimbursements, Hoeksema (2011) adds.

Infection prevention and surgical services departments share a united concern about retained surgical items, a healthcare threat that was No. 8 on the ECRI Institute's 2016 Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns list.

Major figures in the never-ending fight against dangerous infections will gather at U-M on Friday, April 7, for an afternoon-long exploration of how microbes spread regionally, nationally and globally – and what we can do to prevent, slow or stop them. Titled “Pandemic! Contagious Crises from AIDS to Zika,” it will begin and end with major lectures, bookending an expert panel discussion that will draw on current events and historical context.

A study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine describes a new treatment pathway for antibiotic-resistant bacteria with benefits for patients and healthcare providers. Researchers from the University of Birmingham and Newcastle University found that the unusual approach of removing antibodies from the bloodstream reduced the effects of chronic infections, the requirement for days spent in hospital and the use of antibiotics.

A new imaging tool that rapidly diagnoses bacterial lung infections could help prevent unnecessary use of antibiotics in intensive care units. The bedside technology can detect whether harmful bacteria are present within 60 seconds, so that patients can be treated with the right medicine quickly.

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has uncovered hidden vulnerabilities on the surface of the dengue virus. This novel discovery means that scientists can now develop strategies to target these weak spots for treatment of dengue, and possibly other closely related diseases like Zika, influenza and chikungunya.