CDC Offers New, Free Online Infection Control Training Resources

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has announced the availability of new, complimentary online interactive infection control training.

"Let's Talk Patient Safety: Reducing Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Transmission Risk" is designed to help healthcare professionals identify infection risks and prevent the spread of HAIs.

The training provides free continuing education: 0.1 CEU and 0.6 CNE. It has two modules, with CDC estimating that it takes about 30 minutes to complete the training.

The modules are described as follows:

"What's the Risk?": This interactive module transports healthcare professionals into a scenario where they must identify infection risks and act to protect patients, colleagues and visitors.

"Chain of Infection": This story-based interactive module challenges professionals to break the chain of infection in a busy healthcare environment and educates them on the consequences of not following infection prevention and control recommendations.

The training is intended for administrators, advanced practice nurses, licensed practical/vocational nurses, medical assistants, other health educators, registered nurses and all other healthcare professionals involved in patient care.

Access this new infection prevention course here.

Study: Hospital Faucets Can Spread Contaminants in Patient Care Areas

The results of a study show that hospital faucet use can spread dangerous contaminants that may harm patients.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System and presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), examined and measured the cleanliness of multiple faucet and sink designs.

Researchers found that "… a shallow depth of the sink bowl enabled potentially contaminated water to splash onto patient care items, healthcare worker hands and into patient care spaces — at times at a distance of more than four feet from the sink itself," according to an APIC news release.

Particularly alarming was that the inside of faucets — which typically cannot be cleaned — were found to be dirtier than researchers anticipated.

Study author Kristen VanderElzen, said, in the release, "Potentially hazardous germs in and around sinks present a quandary for infection preventionists, since having accessible sinks for hand washing is so integral to everything we promote."

APIC President Karen Hoffmann noted, "Because the healthcare environment can serve as a source of resistant organisms capable of causing dangerous infections, an organization's infection prevention and control program must ensure that measures are in place to reduce the risk of transmission from environmental sources and monitor compliance with those measures." 

Phenelle Segal to Present on ASC Infection Control Practices at GSASC/SCASCA Conference

Phenelle Segal, RN, CIC, FAPIC, founder and president of Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS), will be presenting at the August Georgia Society of Ambulatory Surgery Centers (GSASC) and South Carolina Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (SCASCA) Joint Semi-Annual Conference and Tradeshow.

This meeting will take place August 15–16, 2019, at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort & Spa in Hilton Head Island, S.C.

Phenelle will be discussing "Controversial Infection Control Practices in Ambulatory Surgery Centers" on August 15 from 8:45 AM – 12:00 PM.

If you will be attending the conference and are interested in arranging a meeting with Phenelle, contact ICCS.

New Jersey Issues New Infection Control Recommendations for LTC

The N.J. Department of Health (DOH) has issued new policy recommendations for infection control at long-term care (LTC) facilities.

They come in response to an adenovirus outbreak last year at a pediatric facility in the state that led to 11 deaths and dozens of cases.

The DOH is recommending all LTC facilities with pediatric and adult ventilator beds have an infection control plan that "allows for separation of sick and well residents — and the staff caring for them — as quickly as possible and monitoring of staff and residents for illness," according to a DOH news release.

One of the most significant recommendations is for these LTC facilities to have an outbreak plan that addresses the following:

• policies for patient and staff notification;

• availability of lab testing;

• protocols to assess visitor wellness;

• protocols to identify/exclude sick staff from the facility; and

• separation of sick and well patients at the outset of an outbreak to prevent spread of illness.

The report also includes recommendations for amending state regulations to require such facilities to:

• implement protocols to ensure parents and guardians of residents are immediately notified when outbreaks occur;

• employ a full-time infection control professional;

• have an agreement in place to consult with an infectious disease specialist during an outbreak; and

• provide all staff with training in the facility's infection control policies — including protocols for identifying employees and visitors showing signs of illness — every six months.

Other recommendations touch on areas including response to outbreak by local health departments, development of a respiratory virus outbreak preparedness checklist and funding for staff dedicated to respiratory virus surveillance.

Since some of the recommendations call for policy changes, the N.J. Senate and Assembly Health committees have introduced legislation to address them. 

Study: Most Antibiotics Prescribed Before Dental Procedures Unnecessary

The results of a new study show that more than 80% of antibiotics prescribed for infection prophylaxis prior to dental procedures are unnecessary.

The retrospective cohort study, published in JAMA Network Open, examined about 168,000 dental visits from 2011-2015 involving about 91,000 patients who received antibiotic prophylaxis. Appropriate antibiotic prophylaxis was defined as "a prescription dispensed before a dental visit with a procedure that manipulated the gingiva or tooth periapex in patients with an appropriate cardiac diagnosis."

Researchers noted that nearly 91% of the visits had manipulation of the gingiva or tooth periapex, but only about 21% of patients had a cardiac condition at the highest risk of adverse outcome from infective endocarditis. They therefore determined that 80.9% of antibiotic prophylaxis prescriptions were "discordant with guidelines."

Their conclusions include the following: "While antibiotic prophylaxis is appropriately prescribed for indicated dental procedures in patients with cardiac conditions, most antibiotic prophylaxis is prescribed to patients in whom guideline-identified risk factors are not present. Although prescribing is slowly improving, the high proportion of antibiotics that were found to be unnecessary in our study is worrisome. Implementing antimicrobial stewardship efforts in dental practices is an opportunity to improve antibiotic prescribing for infection prophylaxis."

The researchers note that dentists prescribe about 10% of all antibiotic prescriptions in the United States and are also the top prescriber of clindamycin in the United States. Furthermore, they note that antibiotics prescribed by dentists for infection prophylaxis have been associated with community-associated C difficile infection.