This issue covers some of the most significant news from January. Topics include FDA warnings, artificial tears, end of the PHE, surgical gloves and instruments, and COVID vaccine campaigns.

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FDA Issues Two Warning Letters to Leading Manufacturer of Endoscopes — FDA issued a fresh round of warning letters to Olympus and a subsidiary concerning violations of medical device reporting requirements and quality system regulations for endoscopes and accessories.
 
Multistate Cluster of Carbapenem-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa Linked to Use of Artificial Tears — The CDC issued a statement urging the immediate discontinuation of the use of EzriCare Artificial Tears until epidemiological investigation and laboratory analyses are complete.
 
Biden Administration To Wind Down COVID Emergencies in May — The White House announced it would end public health and national emergencies for COVID on May 11.
 
ECRI Issues Top 10 Health Technology Hazards Report — ECRI released its "Hazards List for 2023." Hazards with infection-related concerns on this year's list include confusion surrounding ventilator cleaning and disinfection requirements can lead to cross-contamination and the growing number of defective single-use medical devices puts patients at risk.
 
Routine Change of Surgical Gloves/Instruments Significantly Lowers SSIs — An international study found that a simple routine change of surgical gloves and instruments could prevent 1 in 8 SSIs.
 
OIG: Pandemic Data Shows Major Changes Needed in Nursing Home Staffing, Surveys, Infection Control — The OIG called for "significant changes" to nursing home operations and oversight in light of new data on COVID-19 infection rates.
 
FDA Panel Recommends Move Toward Streamlined COVID Vaccine Approach — The FDA vaccine advisory group recommended streamlining COVID-19 vaccine campaigns by offering just the newer bivalent (two-strain) versions of the vaccine for both primary and booster series.
 
New Omicron Subvariant Is 'Crazy Infectious,' COVID Expert Warns — As we enter the fourth year of the pandemic, new variants keep surfacing and each one appears to be more transmissible than the others. While it is understandable that we need to continue living our lives, we need to continue to be smart and safe.
 
See It Clearly: Central Sterile Processing's Role in Reprocessing Eye Devices — At ICCS, we routinely note deficiencies in reprocessing eye devices during our onsite visits. This Infection Control Today article is a win for all that work in that space.