Infection Control

White-tailed deer are easily infected by the coronavirus, with some experts now concerned they may become a reservoir for the virus to mutate and spread, The New York Times reported Feb. 7. 

People who report they always wear a mask or respirator in indoor public settings were less likely to test positive for COVID-19 than people who did not, according to the CDC's Feb. 4 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

Increased misuse and overuse of antibiotics amid the pandemic may be exacerbating antibiotic resistance, according to a Jan. 28 report by National Geographic.

The leader of Leapfrog, as well as the head of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, discussed current hand hygiene protocols and compliance, and why hospitals may not be meeting the standards.

The Oregon Health Authority reported a COVID-19 outbreak affecting 18 employees at Columbia Memorial Hospital in Astoria in its latest weekly surveillance summary published Jan. 26. 

Hospitals should take more aggressive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in hospitals amid the omicron driven surge, physicians from Cambridge, Mass.-based Harvard University and Stanford (Calif.) University wrote in an editorial piece published Jan. 24 in JAMA. 

An estimated 1.27 million people around the world died directly from antimicrobial-resistant bacterial infections in 2019, according to a study published Jan. 19 in The Lancet. Antimicrobial resistance was also a factor in nearly 5 million deaths globally, the estimates show. 

University Medical Center New Orleans, part of LCMC Health, reported Louisiana's first two known cases of Candida auris, a deadly, drug-resistant fungus, on Jan. 18,  according to nola.com.

A team of researchers from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale University have developed a wearable air sampler device meant to monitor personal exposure to the coronavirus. 

Cranston, R.I.-based Eleanor Slater Hospital reported 28 patients tested positive for COVID-19 Jan. 6 across multiple campuses, The Boston Globe reported Jan 6.