Infection Control Today, October 2022, (Vol. 26, No. 8)

Infection Control Today's® Product Locator is a monthly column highlighting some of the latest advanced technology in the infection prevention field.

Because of mask-wearing and social distancing, numbers of influenza cases have been down the last 2 years. However, experts say numbers this year could go back up to numbers in prior years. The public and health care workers alike need a nudge to get vaccinated.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today’s highlights for the week ending September 30.

Thorough cleaning and disinfection reduce the role fomites play in the spread of disease.

Environmental services teams (EVS) are crucial players in ensuring patient satisfaction and combating health care–associated infections, yet, too many EVS teams are invisible. They deserve recognition, and this article by environmental hygiene experts explains why and how to give appreciation effectively.

How infection preventionists communicate with those individuals with whom they interact is a tightrope of how to do it well and effectively. Read this article from readers' favorite, Heather Saunders, MPH, RN, CIC, to find out how to not fall off that tightrope in her second of 3 series on the 3'Cs of how to be a successful IP.

Bug of the Month helps educate readers about existing and emerging pathogens of clinical importance in health care facilities today.

Despite the gap of the current and desired rate of COVID-19 vaccinations of pregnant individuals, the systematic review and meta-analysis of 10 observational studies show the vaccines are safe and effective.

Ambassador Deborah Birx, MD, told Infection Control Today® exclusively, “Every mistake that we made with COVID-19 in January and February of 2020, repeated in real time with monkeypox.”

Ambassador Deborah Birx said in an exclusive interview with ICT® that there are “extraordinary structural barriers in the US to access” medical care. Individuals may have insurance, but they cannot access care.

Ambassador Deborah Birx, MD, infectious disease expert, and a former director at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Monica Gandhi, MD, MPH, weigh in on that agency's significantly changed quarantine and distancing guidelines.

Identified in at least 35 people in eastern China, a new type of henipavirus, Langya virus, is suspected to have infected shrews before jumping to humans.

Infection Control Today® asked Matt Pullen, MD, the questions from our readers about the NY polio patient.

A carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) cluster was identified and stopped because of due diligence of the infection preventionists at an acute care facility in Louisiana.

Adding staff is not the cure-all the CMS hopes it is. Higher wages and better government financial assistance would help, but fixing the system is not going to be easy.

Standardizing disinfectant wipes across multiple facilities requires comparing active ingredients, kill claims, and dwell times.