Infection Control
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No One Really Knows How Many HCWs Have Died of COVID-19
While healthcare workers literally bear witness to death, who tolls the bell for them? There is no official count for healthcare workers who have died of COVID-19. Ask how many of these heroes have put their lives on the line and lost them in the process, and one enters a maze of incomplete reports collected from limited jurisdictions, mixed with extrapolations and models confounded with variables.
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Pandemic-Era Infection Prevention Practices Should Continue
Even if the COVID-19 pandemic ends soon, surgery centers likely will need to maintain the same level of infection prevention vigilance they have practiced for more than a year.
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Pandemic Fatigue Is Real, but Is Public Masking Improving?
As SARS-CoV-2 variant strains emerge and vaccine supplies remain uncertain, the need to mask, social distance, and use other nonpharmaceutical interventions is critical. Researchers found that masking increased from 39% to 89% from April to November 2020.
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CDC Revises COVID-19 Quarantine Guidance
In a move that affects healthcare workers and their patients, the CDC has refined its guidance regarding the length of quarantine for individuals exposed to COVID-19. Previously, CDC recommendations stated those exposed to someone with the virus should quarantine for 14 days to prevent the potential spread of the disease to others. However, experts have concluded a shorter quarantine period should be safe in most cases.
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Healthcare Personnel Use of PPE for COVID-19 Spurs Fungal Outbreak
Healthcare personnel’s (HCP) practice of wearing multiple layers of gowns and gloves to treat COVID-19 patients contributed to an outbreak of Candida auris bloodstream infections at a Florida hospital, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
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CDC: Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine Causes Rare Anaphylactic Shock
From Dec. 21, 2020, to Jan. 10, 2021, the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System detected 10 cases of severe anaphylaxis after immunization with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. Ten cases coming out 4,041,396 first doses of the vaccine translates to 2.5 cases per million shots administered.
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Overcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in Healthcare Workers
A striking 20% of nurses in the United States are refusing offers to be immunized with COVID-19 vaccine, according to the results of a national survey.
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New CDC Director Takes Helm Amid Raging Pandemic
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has seen its pandemic response politicized and undermined over the past year, but a new director appointed by the Biden administration aims to restore the battered agency to its world-class standing.
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Vaccines Threatened, Still Effective Against COVID-19 Variants
Current vaccines are holding against an emerging array of highly transmissible SARS-COV-2 variant strains, but researchers are warning that a somewhat literal “arms race” has begun between immunization science and relentless evolution.
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Does MRSA Nares Colonization Predict Non-Respiratory MRSA Infections?
Nares screening for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) carried a high negative predictive value to rule out MRSA infections at various sites.