Prevention

Omicron poses a grave risk to the US health care system. The US has a low rate of vaccination and obtaining boosters, and a relatively large segment of our population is elderly or immunocompromised. A 2-dose mRNA vaccine's immunity appears to rapidly wane and unlike South Africa, many in the US were fully vaccinated very early in the pandemic.

Children in the United States will be able to avoid potentially millions of hours of at-home quarantining under a testing program unveiled by the CDC today.

Just what health care professionals don’t want to hear. Omicron multiplies about 70 times faster than Delta or other COVID-19 variants inside human respiratory tract tissue, says a preprint study.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending December 17

Any COVID-19 vaccine is better than none. But the CDC recommends that people get the Janssen vaccine only if they can’t get the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines.

The World Health Organization warns that vaccines alone won’t protect health care systems from being swamped.

High-flow oxygen therapy reduced the need for mechanical ventilation and shortened the time to clinical recovery among patients with severe COVID-19, says the study.

Experts worry that the high infectivity of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 will further strain health care systems already dealing with Delta. Expect infection preventionists to be in the thick of it.

The only thing infection preventionists can do at this point is keep the hospital decision makers up to date daily on what variant is being seen in their area and how fast it is growing.

Having an infection preventionist on site or as a consultant to lead infection prevention and control training makes a difference. The ability to screen, isolate, or group patients can save lives. Ongoing testing of residents and staff is critical.

Only a small percentage of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 cases require hospitalization so far, but high infectivity may turn this small percentage into a large number of patients, which will further stress our health care system.

Initial clinical data out of South Africa suggest that patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 don't have severe illness.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending December 10.

“[Personal protective equipment] was splashed during most activities and did not prevent skin exposure even when properly donned and doffed,” the study states.

The debate over whether fully vaccinated should mean three shots hasn’t concluded, as the debate over the need for four doses begins.

CDC’s Michael Craig: “Every country is an importer and an exporter of resistance…. And our hope is that this could be a jumpstart to help some of these countries start to build the capacity that is needed everywhere.”

In a small study, Omicron appears to ward off vaccines, but those vaccines still carry plenty of wallop against the variant, and boosters enhance protection, say experts.

The looming surge from the Omicron variant may well have a lower case-fatality-rate but its high infectivity will further strain our health care system and fill our hospitals.

Three doses ought to offer ample protection from infection, the companies say.

The electrostatic sprayer method kills nearly 100% of pathogens. It also kills the COVID-19 virus. But is that overkill?

Exactly how the new variant of COVID-19 fares against vaccinated people continues to be studied.

The number of mutations to the spike protein in Omicron suggests a very different evolutionary trail than had been seen in other iterations of COVID-19, say some experts.

If the infectivity, lethality, and immune avoidance of the Omicron variant is confirmed, it will be of utmost importance that all who can, become vaccinated. In addition, antiviral medications will become of prime importance.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending December 3.

Vaccinations continue to be the key strategy. The administration is looking at ways to encourage adults to get booster doses, as well as opening family clinics to get children vaccinated, and adults booster doses.

Scientists have yet to determine the lethality and transmissibility of the Omicron variant.

Some epidemiologists reportedly posit that Omicron might be a way out of the COVID-19 pandemic if the variant’s symptoms are mild, as some initial reports indicate.

Booster shots are being pushed as a way to offer more protection against Omicron and hopefully ward off a fifth wave of COVID-19 in the United States.

Health care workers at facilities that treat patients who have Medicare or Medicaid coverage were required to get their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by this Sunday. Ten states asked for a temporary injunction and got it.

Although not much has been disclosed about Omicrom so far, its appearance made the WHO label it a variant of concern and caused a cascade of travel restrictions around the world.