Hospital Infection Control & Prevention
RSSArticles
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CMS Warned of Mandate’s Threat to Long-Term Care, Rural Sites
Even healthcare workers who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 voluntarily warn of the unintended consequences of a federal vaccine mandate, particularly to long-term care and rural facilities already hit hard by the pandemic.
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CMS Issues Mandatory Vaccine Rule for Healthcare Workers
While emphasizing the national threat of the pandemic and the safety and efficacy of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services came down to one bedrock reason healthcare workers now face mandated immunization: their ethical duty to protect patients.
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Infection Preventionists Experiencing Burnout, Moral Injury Amid Pandemic
Infection preventionists (IPs) are suffering along with their coworkers as an epidemic of burnout and job turnover roils the healthcare system amid an ongoing pandemic. According to a survey in press by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, 70% of IPs meet the criteria for “high stress” and 65% show symptoms of burnout.
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Contemplating the Next Pandemic
We have heard much about the inevitable “next pandemic” as viruses move and mutate through animals until they become infectious in humans. An example of this was published recently, revealing how an avian flu virus caused fatal infections in swans, seals, and a fox, a “terrestrial mammal” not usually vulnerable to such a virus.
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The Return of Flu: Signs Point to Possible Severe Season
A possible severe influenza season is on the horizon, in part because COVID-19 shutdowns and precautions led to a historically low flu season in 2019-2020, said Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Booster Option for HCWs Approved as CDC Overrules Advisory Panel
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, is defending her decision to overrule her own vaccine advisory committee after they voted against giving COVID-19 booster shots to healthcare workers, teachers, and other essential workers at occupational risk of infections.
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Delta Variant Spreads Exponentially in United States with Millions Unvaccinated
The delta variant of COVID-19 has spread exponentially in the United States, with 96% of counties reporting high (90%) or substantial (6%) transmission as of Oct. 8, 2021.
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Children Hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2
Two studies give a clear, consistent finding: About three-fourths of children hospitalized with SARS-CoV-2 do not have severe COVID-19-related illness but are merely identified as infected when subjected to screening tests. Surveys reporting the number or incidence of SARS-CoV-2-infected hospitalized children likely overestimate the actual burden of disease.
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ANA Sounds Alarm on National Nursing Shortage
The American Nurses Association recently sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services calling for the Biden administration “to declare a national nurse staffing crisis and take immediate steps to develop and implement both short- and long-term solutions.”
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CMS Moves to Enforce Biden Vaccine Mandate for All Healthcare Workers
With legal scholars saying President Biden is within the law in mandating COVID-19 vaccines for all healthcare workers, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is moving quickly to enforce the requirement and will issue interim regulation in October.