CDC awards $11 million for new Prevention Epicenters

Funding from the CDC has allowed for an increase in CDC Prevention Epicenters, according to a press release.

The CDC has awarded $11 million to six academic institutions to study the spread of infectious diseases in health care facilities through 2018: Emory University; Johns Hopkins University; University of Illinois, Chicago; University of Iowa; University of Maryland, Baltimore; and University of Utah.

These institutions will join the existing five Prevention Epicenters, which include: Cook County Health & Hospital System and Rush University Medical Center; Duke University; Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and University of California, Irvine; University of Pennsylvania; and Washington University.

Tom Frieden

"It can be difficult and challenging to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases in health care facilities," Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, CDC director, said in the release. "To protect Americans, it's critical that we develop the cutting edge science needed to stay ahead of the germs. The six institutions receiving these funds are doing just that."

With the addition of the new centers, the CDC looks to reduce the risk of health care–associated infections, such as influenza, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and C. difficile.

The Prevention Epicenters Program, which began in 1997, has previously demonstrated the efficacy of using skin antiseptics and nasal decolonization to prevent MRSA, designed an effective package to prevent the spread of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae and designed a system to get patients off of ventilators more quickly, as detailed in the release.