The CDC has removed physician groups, public health professionals and infectious disease experts from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ working groups, Bloomberg reported Aug. 1. Here are four things to know: 1. Under the change, external experts will be…
Infection Control
Providence Medford (Ore.) Medical Center recently paused endoscopy procedures for 11 days after identifying quality-control lapses in its cleaning and sanitization process. “We recently learned that some quality-control steps and related processes in endoscopy cleaning were not completed in some…
The American Medical Association said it expressed “deep concern” to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. over reports of plans within the agency to dismiss all 16 members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. “USPSTF plays a critical, non-partisan…
Doral, Fla.-based Jackson West Medical Center opened in August 2021 with a road map for preventing hospital acquired infections that is now being scaled across the system. “From the very beginning, we built a culture where everyone is empowered to…
The Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis is attempting to create its own vaccine committee to replace the dissolved Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, NBC News reported June 22. Here is what…
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After Carilion Clinic increased its infection prevention and control team from 11 to 24 full-time personnel, the Roanoke, Va.-based system saw a significant decrease in healthcare-associated infections. Between 2020 and 2023, as the eight-hospital system hired more infection prevention staff,…
In the U.S., 296 hospitals have a methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection rate of zero, as based on the healthcare-associated infections dataset from CMS. The Healthcare Associated Infections-Hospital database uses measures — developed by the CDC and collected through the National…
A dominant strain of norovirus is emerging, which could disrupt the seasonal pattern and increase the number of outbreaks, a June 2 CDC report suggests. Here’s what to know: 1. In previous years, the U.S. saw norovirus outbreaks increase around…
In a May 28 message to health system CEOs, two national healthcare safety organizations compared cutting infection control jobs to “dismantling the fire department during wildfire season.” The Leapfrog Group and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology…
The CDC ended its healthcare infection control practices advisory committee on May 8, and healthcare associations and groups are decrying the decision. Each year, hospitals incur $28.4 billion to $45 billion in direct medical costs due to hospital-associated infections. HAIs…