Policy Updates

Both CDC and FDA note that a negative COVID-19 test does not rule out the possibility that a person may have an infection that is not yet detectable. Therefore, both agencies recommend retesting for people who have symptoms or may have been exposed to COVID-19. The FDA has developed a guide to understanding at-home OTC … Continued

The FDA is providing additional information about two recent issues in certain reworked Philips Respironics (Philips) Trilogy 100 and Trilogy 200 ventilators. These Philips Trilogy 100 and Trilogy 200 ventilators were recalled in June 2021 for issues with the polyester-based polyurethane (PE-PUR) sound abatement foam breakdown. The two recent issues are: Read the FDA safety communication.

Honeywell Personal Protective Equipment has issued a Mandatory Stop Use Notice of the PAPR Cartridges PA7DEHE and PA7OVAGHE produced prior to November 2022. The company has identified a quality issue with these cartridges that could cause possible exposure to carbon and other substances, creating a potential safety issue for the user. Read the Honeywell Safety … Continued

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) analysis of CDC and CMS data found that transmission of COVID-19 in the community surrounding a nursing home, known as community spread, had the strongest association with the duration of an outbreak. In the analysis of six nursing homes in four states, the GAO identified a range of … Continued

The CDC Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Network is hosting a webinar on Tuesday, December 20 on “Ebola: Clinical Presentation, Evaluation, and Infection Prevention.” The call will be at 2:00 – 3:00 pm ET. Click here for more information and to link to the webinar.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified an unprecedented global increase of cholera infections, with large outbreaks currently occurring in Haiti, Malawi, and Syria. Currently, CDC considers 25 countries to have active cholera transmission. Thus far in 2022, 8 travelers with cholera have returned to the United States from Pakistan, Iraq, and Bangladesh. … Continued

CDC published an investigation of a cluster of Burkholderia stabilis (B.stabilis) infections in MMWR. The article, Outbreak of Burkholderia stabilis Infections Associated with Contaminated Nonsterile, Multiuse Ultrasound Gel — 10 States, May–September 2021 | MMWR (cdc.gov), reports on a cluster of eight invasive infections among hospitalized patients in 2021 that were traced to use of … Continued

The CDC and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) have developed a new surveillance case definition for multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C). MIS-C is a rare but severe condition that may occur 2-6 weeks after acute SARS-CoV-2 infection. The new definition will become effective January 1, 2023. CDC will hold a webinar … Continued

The CDC has reviewed and updated Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings and posted it on the CDC Infection Prevention and Control website. This guidance document was originally compiled by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and posted on the HICPAC website in 2014, but is … Continued