Wearing masks at grocery stores, on airplanes, subways and buses was the norm during the height of the pandemic. Now, most mask mandates only remain at hospitals and in healthcare settings, but experts say it is time to walk back those policies.

Like many things in life, diseases and pathogens are not linear. What was once under control may resurface or spike due to evolving global conditions — which is something experts from the CDC and American Medical Association are continuously preparing to manage.

About 50 percent of healthcare workers with symptomatic COVID-19 in a new study showed up for work, indicating concern over high workload burden for coworkers and personal responsibility.

Las Vegas-based Veterans Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System has stopped testing asymptomatic patients for COVID-19 before surgical procedures, it announced April 10.

From 2019 to 2021, 17 states reported their first case of Candida auris, a yeast fungal infection becoming more resistant to treatment. Three Massachusetts General Hospital experts told Becker's the three ways to contain the spread.

The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed two new standards to reduce ethylene oxide emissions and protect workers exposed to the gas during sterilization processes. 

From drug resistance to the growing threat of Candida auris, today's infection preventionists face a growing to-do list with limited resources. 

In a large hospital in London, removing mask rules for visitors and staff did not result in a "statistically significant change" in the rate of COVID-19 infections, a study published April 6 found, adding more questions to the swirling debate of mask efficacy against the coronavirus. 

Observing military tank training prompted John Moses, PhD, a professor and researcher at Cold Spring Harbor (N.Y.) Laboratory, to develop "shape-shifting" antibiotics in an effort to fight rising instances of drug resistance.

The first human to be infected with a deadly plant fungus has made a full recovery after two years of treatment, The Jerusalem Post reported April 2.

Researchers have identified what may be the first documented human infection of a rare bacteria from an iguana bite, CNN reported April 2. 

As Paxlovid is "blunting SARS[-CoV-]2 disease pathogenesis," there are multiple transmissible coronavirus variants circulating resistant to the antiviral's main ingredient, according to a study published March 29 in Science Advances.

Meredith Hulsey, DO, has been named chief medical officer at Odessa, Texas-based Medical Center Hospital, according to Odessa American. Dr. Hulsey, a pathologist, was trained at MCH; she returned Jan. 3 to begin her new role, after five years away. 

Hospital leaders are ready for COVID-19 to go away and never come back. Becker's editorial statistics confirm interest in COVID-19 content has fallen in recent months. 

Health systems spend millions obtaining the latest technology to create state-of-the-art facilities and to build reputations for quality and innovation. But failing to maintain consistency in relatively low-tech, low-cost infection prevention strategies like hand hygiene can undermine reputation, patient outcomes and the financial bottom line across all practice areas.

The CDC has reported two more deaths linked to a bacterial infection from eye drops.

The rapid spread of Candida auris in hospitals is highlighting poorly funded and understaffed infection prevention efforts, The Washington Post reported March 21.

There is an emerging threat of Candida auris, a fungus that is becoming more resistant to treatment, the CDC said March 20. 

While the majority of clinicians view hand hygiene as critical to patient safety, environment and other factors can stand in the way of high reliability, according to a new survey-based study led by researchers at Boston Children's Hospital. 

Five medical societies collaborated to publish updated hand hygiene recommendations for preventing healthcare-associated infections through hand hygiene at acute care facilities, Wolters Kluwer reported March 13.