Knowing the protocol is only the beginning. In The Clean Bite, Sherrie Busby explores how explaining the why, addressing staff concerns, and creating clear procedures can help dental teams make infection control part of everyday practice.

For International Infection Prevention Week, Infection Control Today explores how prevention connects hospital departments with everyday community life and why infection preventionists (IPs), sterile processing department (SPD), professionals, and environmental services (EVS) teams deserve lasting support.

This week in infection prevention: Kenya's imported Ebola case showed how fever screening can miss an ill traveler, Florida's dengue outbreak reached 296 local cases, and new guidance underscores that missed surfaces and shared equipment fuel AMR risk. Our weekly roundup covers these stories and more.

This week's coverage in Infection Control Today centered on a common thread: the systems, partnerships, and data that let infection prevention teams catch problems before patients are harmed.

What might infection prevention rounds miss when visible conditions dominate the conversation? Tommy Davis, PhD, CMIP, a member of ICT's executive advisory board, makes the case for structured observations of clinical workflows, shared accountability, and greater attention to environmental services staff’s insights.

A followed procedure can still leave patients at risk if it no longer matches validated requirements. Annetta L. McKnight, MHA, BSN, CRCST, CER, examines how infection prevention and sterile processing can identify process drift, assess disruptions, and strengthen shared oversight of medical device reprocessing.

A retrospective hospital study found no significant differences in mortality or readmissions between infectious disease e-consults and in-person consultations, despite more diagnoses of bacteremia among e-consult patients. Researchers recommend further evaluation across settings.

A 2026 IDWeek poster details how respiratory cultures and whole genome sequencing clarified a NICU MRSA outbreak, with targeted prevention measures followed by at least 6 months without additional bacteremias or related respiratory clusters.