News

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.

Fear of vaccine-related myocarditis is narrowing guidance, but the evidence is clear: COVID-19 infection triggers more myocarditis than vaccination, early doses cut pediatric long COVID, and myocarditis appeared in 2020—before vaccines existed. This piece restores the full risk–benefit picture.

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.

Hey Clean Biters! What’s flowing through your lines? Make DUWL safety automatic: appoint a Safety Officer, write a one-page SOP, treat daily, shock monthly, test quarterly, and document <500 CFU/mL. Grab the log—clean water, every patient, every time.

As ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) expand into new specialties, sterile processing challenges can slow growth or halt operations entirely. Lifeline Surgical Partners—formerly Lifeline Vascular Care—found a scalable, cost-effective solution through offsite reprocessing, allowing their centers to maintain high-quality care while freeing clinical teams to focus on patients.

As the days get colder, with CDC’s school guidance, now is the time for schools to double down on air quality, hygiene, and infection prevention to protect students and staff.

Candida auris continues to challenge infection preventionists with its persistence, resistance, and potential for outbreaks. New evidence shows that early, expanded screening—beginning in the emergency department—may be the key to stopping transmission before it starts.

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

Recent advances in diagnostic techniques offer a rapid and accurate method for identifying nontuberculous mycobacteria species, potentially accelerating the diagnosis and treatment of infections.

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.

Improving the landscape for Instructions for Use (IFU) requires several different steps.

Two well used resources for infection control and the selection of ideal disinfectant were starting points for the creation of a new disinfectant evaluation tool.

Protecting patients and reducing healthcare associated infections (HAI) are at the forefront of infection control.

Regulatory compliance for medical devices varies drastically based on the class type by the FDA.

Understanding the lengthy timeline for product development better equips manufacturers for responding to faulty cleaners and disinfectants.

Understand who the key organizations are when it comes to the cleaning and disinfection of non-critical medical devices.

Understand who the key organizations are when it comes to the cleaning and disinfection of non-critical medical devices.

Instructions for Use (IFU) have been a work in progress starting as far back as the 1940’s. Learn more about how they began and who the key organizations were in establishing these instructions.

A broad range of problems exist within Instructions for Use (IFU) and often create gaps in being able to execute important cleaning measures for medical instruments and devices.

Medical instruments and devices require specific instructions for properly cleaning and disinfecting these items, known as Instructions for Use (IFU).

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.

What if there were a new index to reduce exposure risks on high-touch facility surfaces? Read on to learn about one.