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Outbreak Prevention Response Week 2019

September 16-20, 2019

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America will be leading Outbreak Prevention and Response Week from September 16-20, 2019. During the week, SHEA and its partners will share resources with healthcare professionals, the infection prevention community, and patients and families on ways to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.

Outbreak Prevention and Response Week 2019 Calendar

The Society for Health Epidemiology of America has identified five themes, encompassing aspects of outbreak prevention and response.

OPRW Partner Newsletter

SHEA Mourns the Passing of Gina Pugliese

SHEA is saddened by the loss of a committed Editorial Board member for Infection Control and Healthcare Epidemiology and strong SHEA contributor, Gina Pugliese. During Gina’s career, she helped shape the practice of infection control, bringing innovation and leadership to the field.

Save the Date - Decennial 2020

Save the Date for the Decennial 2020 Conference

Ebola CDC Update 2-2019

2019 CDC Updates on Ebola Infection Prevention Guidance

CDC has provided the following updates on infection prevention and control guidance and related concerns pertinent to U.S. healthcare facilities and personnel as it relates to the ongoing outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Initial Triage of Patients

Here are the steps that facilities should implement as a routine part of triage to quickly identify, isolate, and inform public health authorities about patients who may have communicable infections:

  • Ask about and document international travel histories at initial triage. This information can alert healthcare personnel to the possibility of communicable infections, such as viral hemorrhagic fevers or emerging respiratory viruses, and other health conditions, such as malaria, that need specific treatment.
  • Identify patients who have fever and other signs and symptoms of infection and might warrant isolation pending further evaluation.
  • Post contact information in easily visible locations for infection control personnel and the local public health jurisdiction for reporting of communicable diseases.

Current Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Ebola Virus Disease in U.S. Healthcare Facilities

CDC recommendations for infection prevention and control for patients with confirmed EVD or persons under investigation (PUIs) for EVD in U.S. healthcare facilities have been recently reviewed and are considered up to date: https://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/clinicians/index.html. To clarify,

The Regional Treatment Network for Ebola and Other Special Pathogens

Healthcare facilities and public health officials should be familiar with the U.S. Regional Treatment Network for Ebola and other special pathogens. This includes facilities understanding their designated role as part of the network, continuing to be willing to serve in that capacity, and maintaining preparedness as a Frontline facility, State-designated Assessment Hospital, State-designated Treatment Center, or HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR)-designated Regional Treatment Center.

  • Healthcare facilities and public health officials should have established plans for how PUIs or EVD patients are to be managed and referred.
  • Officials with responsibility for infectious diseases epidemiology and healthcare infection control should be in communication with their preparedness counterparts to ensure mutual understanding of the designations and preparedness status of assessment and treatment centers in their jurisdictions.
  • The National Ebola Training and Education Center (NETEC) is co-funded by ASPR and CDC. NETEC has additional online resources and a blog, and remains available to provide on-site readiness assessments to hospitals for Ebola and other special pathogens.

Additional Resources

 

 

New SHEA Guidance - Infection Control in Anesthesiology

SHEA, in collaboration with anesthesia societies, released today an expert guidance with recommendations to improve infection prevention in operating room anesthesia services.

Apply for SHEA Spring 2019 Scholarships

Applications for SHEA Spring 2019 scholarships are due November 30. Find out more at http://sheaspring.org/scholarships/ and apply today!

Outbreak Response & Incident Management: A Discussion on the Who and What of a Disease Outbreak

Florence: Pre- and Post-Hurricane Infection Prevention-Related Information

Resources for consumers and healthcare providers related to infection prevention in emergency situations.  

SHEA'S New ICHE Managing Editor

Please join Dr. Susanne Bradley and the Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology (ICHE) editorial team as we welcome Lindsay MacMurray as the new Managing Editor of ICHE. Ms. MacMurray joins as a full time SHEA employee to provide editorial and strategic support for ICHE. She joins SHEA with over a decade of experience in scholarly publishing. Most recently, Ms. MacMurray was a Managing Editor with KWF Editorial. At KWF Editorial, she managed a portfolio of medical and scientific journals and supervised a team of Editorial Associates. Lindsay worked closely with editors, authors, reviewers, and association leadership to oversee daily journal operations and ensure that long-term, strategic goals were met. Ms. MacMurray has expert knowledge of Editorial Manager and is skilled at analyzing peer review processes to create and implement efficient workflows for high-volume and high-impact publications. Additionally, Ms. MacMurray has assisted in the launch, training, and daily operations of three Open Access publications. Prior to KWF, Ms. MacMurray spent six years with the publishing program at the American Psychological Association. Ms. MacMurray holds a BA from Boston College and an MSW from Catholic University.

Please join us in welcoming Ms. MacMurray as you submit your publications to ICHE. She can be reached at lmacmurray@shea-online.org.

Emergency Department and Urgent Care Stewardship Toolkit

The MITIGATE (A Multifaceted Intervention to Improve Prescribing for Acute Respiratory Infection for Adults and Children in Emergency Department and Urgent Care Settings) toolkit is intended as a "gold standard," step by step implementation guide for healthcare providers and administrators interested in designing quality improvement programs in antimicrobial stewardship in emergency department (ED) and urgent care healthcare settings. When implemented as written, the toolkit will fulfill the CDC Core Elements of Outpatient Antibiotic Stewardship.

SHEA Releases New Textbooks

SHEA recently released two textbooks: Practical Healthcare Epidemiology Textbook, 4th Edition and Practical Implementation of an Antibiotic Stewardship Program.  Order your copy here today!

NEW! SHEA Research Scholar Award

The SHEA Education and Research Foundation, and the SHEA Research Committee are pleased to announce the availability of a new research grant award, the SHEA Research Scholars Grant Award. This grant will award up to $40,000 to an early investigator within 5 years of completion of training to conduct a research project that addresses knowledge gaps and new challenges in healthcare epidemiology and antibiotic stewardship research.

APPLY TODAY SHEA Career Recognition Awards at IDWeek 2018 & SHEA Open Scholarships

Apply today to one of SHEA’s Open Scholarships and Career Recognition Awards presented at IDWeek 2018. Details are below. If you have any questions, please email foundation@shea-online.org You can only win if you apply!

IDSA, SHEA and PIDS Announce Inaugural LEAP Fellowship Awardees

IDSA, SHEA and PIDS are pleased to announce the first awardees of the Leadership in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Public health (LEAP) Fellowship. Currently in its inaugural year, the LEAP Fellowship is a $100,000 training award competitively granted to four promising young infectious diseases physicians. Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this fellowship aims to foster the next generation of Infectious Diseases leaders in public health, hospital epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship, giving them the hands-on experience they’ll need to lead and collaborate across these disciplines of healthcare.

Awardees:

  • Milner Staub, MD, Vanderbilt University
    Leap Fellowship Project: An Assessment of Outpatient Antimicrobial Prescription Across Tennessee Based on Practice Location, Specialty and Provider
  • Dana Pepe, MD, Yale School of Medicine
    Leap Fellowship Project: Expanding Utilization of Targeted Assessment for Prevention (TAP) Strategy in Connecticut
  • Gabriella Andujar Vazquez, MD, Tufts Medical Center
    LEAP Fellowship Project: Enhanced Support for Long Term Care Facilities Participating in a Massachusetts Department of Public Health Antimicrobial Stewardship Initiative
  • Jennifer Blumenthal, MD, Boston Children’s Hospital
    LEAP Fellowship Project: Assessing and Optimizing the Utility of the Massachusetts Statewide Antibiogram

The LEAP Fellowship will commence July 1, 2018 and last one year. The Fellowship is for early career infectious diseases physicians - those in their second or third year of fellowship or up to two years post fellowship.

Societal Leadership Weighs In:

IDSA: "I am proud that we have partnered with SHEA and PIDS along with the CDC who is sponsoring LEAP so that infectious disease fellows or early career clinical ID physicians may gain experience and tools to foster collaboration between academic institutions and public health departments. With antimicrobial resistance a more pressing concern then ever, we wish the awardees success during their fellowship and look to their future for inspired leadership in stewardship, epidemiology and public health." – Paul Auwaerter, MBA, MD, FIDSA, President of IDSA

SHEA: "The ability to effectively share knowledge and experience among professionals in public health, infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship and to form fruitful collaborative partnerships is critical in improving patient care and reducing antimicrobial resistance. By offering research support and professional opportunities, the Leadership in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Public health (LEAP) Fellowship will help to train future leaders in healthcare epidemiology. We are extremely excited to join IDSA and PIDS in awarding these inaugural LEAP Fellowships," – Keith Kaye, MD, MPH, president of SHEA

PIDS: "The LEAP fellowships recognize outstanding young ID physicians who are poised to become leaders in public health, hospital epidemiology and antimicrobial stewardship. The Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) is excited to be a part of the inaugural LEAP fellowship awards, and would like to congratulate the four awardees. This is an area of great importance to the future of ID and to the health of our nation."– Paul W. Spearman, MD, FPIDS

For more information on the LEAP Fellowship, please contact, Michele Wagner, MPH, LEAP Fellowship Project Manager at mwagner@idsociety.org. For more information from CDC, please contact Karima Hunter, Project Manager at ksh1@cdc.gov.

Outbreak Response (ORTP) Tools Available

The recent SHEA/CDC Outbreak Response Training Program (ORTP) expert guidance document provides recommendations and resources needed for healthcare epidemiologists to prepare for and respond to facility and emerging pathogen outbreaks. The guidance provides reviews relevant areas of incident management and details the likely responsibilities of the epidemiologist, including:

  • Incident management frameworks, structures, and terminology from the federal to the institutional level
  • The likely role of the healthcare epidemiologist in the Hospital Incident Command System (HICS)
  • Relevant legal, ethical, and regulatory considerations
  • The healthcare epidemiologist’s role in internal and external communications
  • Contacts, positions, roles, and stakeholders important to the healthcare epidemiologist for incident management
  • Considerations for pediatrics
  • Recommendations for handling transfers to long-term care
  • Preparedness and response in settings with limited resources The guidance also provides diagrams, tables, and a list of resources.

Its recommendations were written to apply to a range of outbreak scenarios hospitals may face.

In addition to the expert guidance, there are online educational modules and tools available all AT NO COST.  Visit ortp.shea-online.org for more information and to take advantage of these modules. 

Why Attend SHEA Spring 2018

SHEA's President, Keith Kaye, MD, MPH on why you should attend SHEA Spring 2018. 

New Clostridium difficile Guidelines

Updated guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of Clostridium difficile (C. diff.) by IDSA and the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) have published in Clinical Infectious Diseases. Diagnosis and treatment of C. diff. has evolved significantly since the last guidelines were published in 2010.

LEAP Fellowship

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), have joined together to create the Leaders in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial stewardship, and Public health (LEAP) Fellowship.

 

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