ICT Weekly Rounds for September 25, 2026: Ebola, Lyme testing, Sterile Processing Burnout, and More

This week's coverage on Infection Control Today^®’s (ICT^®’s)panned the full range of the infection prevention and control (IPC) beat: a worsening international outbreak straining containment resources, new diagnostic data complicating a familiar tick-borne disease, and a cluster of perioperative and sterile processing stories underscoring how small workflow gaps, such as a fogged pair of goggles, a rushed operating room (OR) turnover, a mismatched disinfectant label, can compound into real patient safety risk.

Here's what infection prevention professionals need to know heading into the weekend.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)'s 2026 Ebola outbreak is outpacing the response. Confirmed cases have climbed to 7,614 with a 48% fatality rate in just 18 weeks, moving faster than the 2014 West Africa outbreak at a comparable stage. Reported contact follow-up looks strong on paper at 87%. Still, on-the-ground estimates suggest only about 27% of actual contacts are being monitored, with personal protective equipment shortages, overcrowded treatment centers, and thin community health worker infrastructure hampering containment in fast-growing urban clusters.

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Lyme testing data suggest coinfection is more common than clinicians may assume. A Quest Diagnostics analysis of 193,260 patients found that nearly 30% of those with Borrelia burgdorferi antibodies also carried antibodies to other tick-borne pathogens, compared with just 5.5% of seronegative patients — a pattern most pronounced in the Northeast. Researchers caution that coseropositivity doesn't confirm active coinfection. Still, the findings are a reminder that doxycycline, the first-line Lyme treatment, won't touch Babesia microti, making exposure history and clinical context essential to interpreting results.

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Sterile processing burnout is being driven by cognitive overload, not just staffing. Randalyn Harreld, CRCST, FHSPA, argues that constant task-switching and inconsistent instructions for use (IFUs) across increasingly complex devices are compounding patient safety risk and that the fix is standardized IFU formatting, protected work zones, and real training investment, not asking techs to simply absorb more complexity.

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Long-acting HIV therapies could reshape adherence but won't solve access on their own. Injectable and once-weekly oral options may ease the daily-dosing burden that limits current PrEP uptake, but the article stresses that success will hinge on health system capacity, equitable access, and clinician tracking of real-world metrics such as virologic suppression and missed-dose rates, not on the technology alone.

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No single disinfectant can satisfy every manufacturer's IFU, Exchange26 presenters said. Diane Cullen, JM, MSN, MBA, RN, CIC, CPHQ, proposed a weighted risk-assessment framework that includes weighing IFU adherence, patient and staff safety, resources, workflow, and clinical effectiveness to help EVS and IP teams navigate conflicting product instructions, while emphasizing that documenting the decision-making process matters, even though it won't guarantee survey protection.

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Also on the Radar

OR turnover pressure is causing teams to skip critical disinfection steps, such as premature restocking and short contact times. However, repeated competency training pushed cleaning-to-standard rates from 20% to 82% over 3 sessions, underscoring the value of sustained, not one-time, education.

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Fogged eyewear and shifting mask fit are quietly pulling surgeons' attention from the field during long cases; perioperative leaders are being urged to treat mask comfort and visibility as an adherence issue, not just an inconvenience.

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