Prevention

As we approach year 3, the contribution made by infection preventionists in battling this pandemic needs to be appreciated more.

Proper ventilation can greatly reduce the environmental strain on operating rooms. However, there’s no one-size-fits all solution.

Many people suffer from long COVID, and since COVID-19 is a fairly recent development experts aren’t sure what “long” means exactly. Weeks? Months? Years? A lifetime?

ICU nurses, more than other clinicians, because they have the most interaction with patients. Non-clinical workers because they may not be knowledgeable enough about mitigation methods, a study states.

Initial data suggest that it appears to be more infectious than even the highly infectious original Omicron variant.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending January 28.

Long COVID’s symptoms seem to match those of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a condition that millions have suffered from for decades.

COVID-19 mutations are evading our immunity and at the same time our immunity is waning. Herd immunity to disease and the eradication of SARS-CoV-2 is no longer possible.

Reinfections among study participants most likely occurred outside the hospital setting where workers might let their guard down and not practice nonpharmaceutical mitigation efforts against SARS-CoV-2.

Moves by the FDA and NIH to revise treatment guidelines run up against a system of testing for COVID-19 that faces logistical hurdles.

In making the ruling, the FDA stated that it wants to spare patients the risk of side effects such as injection site soreness or allergic reactions for treatments unlikely to work.

This frequency of symptoms 1 year after recovering from severe COVID-19 disease is concerning, as much is still unknown about “long COVID.”

The ability to be an excellent infection preventionist requires lifelong learning and taking the initiative to grow professionally.

Linda Spaulding, a member of ICT®’s Editorial Advisory Board, and a consultant, plans to fly out to Hawaii later this week to advise her LTCF clients in that state about how best to get through the current surge.

Contrary to the “vaccinate and all will be well” narrative, “mild” does not mean just avoiding hospitalization, nor does surviving a COVID-19 acute illness means you have recovered. Vaccines are an important layer of armor but they, in themselves, will not stop COVID-19.

The highly transmissible and dominant Omicron variant of COVID-19 places added pressure on infection preventionists and other clinicians to determine just what they’re dealing with.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending January 21.

Outpatient settings are not like inpatient settings. They have unique requirements and circumstances, including those related to infection prevention and control.

The successful combination of products and the adoption and application of science-based practices will help the sterile processing profession rise above challenges to protecting frontline technicians.

Animal infection sets the stage for an independent evolution of SARS-CoV-2 which, after an extended evolutionary period, can jump back to humans causing disease with an unpredictable infectivity and case fatality rate.

Some experts see Omicron starting to peak in the U.S., and “normal” may soon return. In the meantime, unfortunately, be prepared for a rough month or so.

Despite the preliminary evidence that a fourth dose will not offer sufficient protection against Omicron, Israel will continue to offer it to vulnerable populations, predicting that the variant’s contagions will wane.

There’s not much IPs can do to help nurses who battle the Omicron surge except urge hospital administrators to listen to their grievances.

COVID-19 seems to be present in many white-tail deer. The danger posed by that includes COVID-19 mutating into a new variant that reinfects humans, says a study.

Infection prevention and control experts offer their peers advice on how to handle overcrowding at hospitals and what to do about masking.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending January 14.

As infection preventionists, we need to request that hospitals dust off the practices that were implemented during 2020. We need to reiterate that vaccination does not prevent infections, only severe illness.

Health care workers who work at facilities that care for patients who have Medicare or Medicaid must get the COVID-19 vaccine.

Infection preventionists and other health care professionals once again on the frontlines battling a COVID-19 surge need be wary of “mild” symptoms that could haunt them in the long run.

Omicron and an ample supply of N95s and KN95s might lead the CDC to change masking recommendations for the public this week to say that individuals should wear those masks.