Infection Control

More than 4,000 people have signed an online petition urging members of Congress to implement a national mandate that requires all Americans to wear masks or face coverings in public to stop the spread of COVID-19.

Endpoints used in studies of infection control interventions, including active surveillance cultures and clinical cultures, may provide contrasting results and, therefore, different conclusions, making the appropriate selection of endpoints important, according to findings published in Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology.

Researchers tested the skin, clothing and personal protective equipment, or PPE, of health care workers after caring for patients and found they are routinely contaminated with respiratory viruses, demonstrating the importance of complete hand hygiene and appropriate PPE use and doffing practices to prevent transmission of pathogens, they said.

The theme of this year’s International Infection Prevention Week, which runs from Oct. 13 to 19, is “Vaccines are Everybody’s Business.”

HUNTINGTON BEACH, California — Infection management in the dialysis unit remains a high priority for caregivers, and clinical teams from Gundersen Health System presented ideas here on assessing gaps in practice and developing programs to help change the culture, even with something as simple as washing hands while doing patient care.

One of the lessons that health care centers learned during New York City’s recent measles outbreak was to screen patients before they entered the facility — either over the phone or while the patient sat in the car — methods that could help reduce exposure and the spread of disease, according to a report published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

News that the CDC launched an infection control training program and a study that found fluoroquinolone use decreased after the FDA’s 2016 black box warning were among the top stories in infectious disease last week.

National infection prevention experts, led by the CDC’s Health Research & Educational Trust, have developed a new curriculum focused on infection control.

Social media provides a quick and easy way to communicate and disseminate information.

More than 40% of parents report that they would be somewhat or very likely to change their child’s health care provider if they knew the office treated families who refuse vaccination, according to findings from a nationally representative survey of more than 2,000 parents.