Weekly Rounds with Infection Control Today: Omicron’s Symptoms, Biopreparedness, Electrostatic Cleaners
Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending December 10.
Here are 5 highlights from ICT®’s wide-ranging coverage of the infection prevention and control world. Everything from interviews with known opinion leaders, to the news that infection preventionists and other health care professionals can use on their jobs.
Winnie the Flu? Omicron Symptoms Mild So Far
Initial clinical data out of South Africa suggest that patients with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 don't have severe illness.
Add Biopreparedness to IP Checklist
Now is the time for infection preventionists to harness the current attention to biopreparedness and use the momentum to build the foundations for strong local programs that can be sustained through future waves of competing priorities.
Going Deep: Cleaning Potential of Electrostatic Sprayers
The electrostatic sprayer method kills nearly 100% of pathogens. It also kills the COVID-19 virus. But is that overkill?
Viewpoint: What Doesn’t Kill You Mutates and Tries Again
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.
Prior COVID Infection Less Likely to Stop Omicron, Says Study
Exactly how the new variant of COVID-19 fares against vaccinated people continues to be studied.
Beyond the Surface: Rethinking Environmental Hygiene Validation at Exchange25
June 30th 2025Environmental hygiene is about more than just shiny surfaces. At Exchange25, infection prevention experts urged the field to look deeper, rethink blame, and validate cleaning efforts across the entire care environment, not just EVS tasks.
A Controversial Reboot: New Vaccine Panel Faces Scrutiny, Support, and Sharp Divides
June 26th 2025As the newly appointed Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) met for the first time under sweeping changes by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr, the national spotlight turned to the panel’s legitimacy, vaccine guidance, and whether science or ideology would steer public health policy in a polarized era.
Getting Down and Dirty With PPE: Presentations at HSPA by Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski
June 26th 2025In the heart of the hospital, decontamination technicians tackle one of health care’s dirtiest—and most vital—jobs. At HSPA 2025, 6 packed workshops led by experts Jill Holdsworth and Katie Belski spotlighted the crucial, often-overlooked art of PPE removal. The message was clear: proper doffing saves lives, starting with your own.
