osigunma – Page 2 – Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention & Control, Training and Technical Assistance (ARCIPC)

Pandemics, Infodemics and Information Overload: How consistent, clear communication can help in future outbreaks (November 7, 2023, 12pm CT)

In this webinar, Dr. Wallace, Epidemiologist and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, will discuss about infodemics and how they occur, talk through misinformation vs correct information and how they both can contribute to infodemics, and will review the problem of infodemics, and how we can reduce information overload and confusion by prioritizing consistent and clear scientific communication to mitigate public confusion and information fatigue. This webinar is presented by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control and cosponsored by the Region IV Public Health Training Center.

Dr. Katrine Wallace, Ph.D.

Dr. Wallace holds a Ph.D. in Epidemiology and has 15+ years of professional research experience in epidemiology, research design, pharmacoepidemiology, health economics, outcomes research, and biostatistics. She is currently an epidemiologist and adjunct assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health. She is also known as “Dr Kat” on her popular social media channels where she educates on epidemiology, vaccines, and the COVID-19 pandemic. She has been an invited speaker in the US and internationally, and has presented research at over 20 scientific congresses. A vaccine advocate, she serves as a member of “Team Halo” (United Nations Verified Initiative), Project FIDES (World Health Organization) and was chosen as a “vaccine luminary” for the 2021 G7 Vaccine Confidence Summit. Dr. Wallace has also been featured as an opinion contributor for The Hill, and has been interviewed or profiled in several mainstream media outlets such as; BBC World News, The Washington Post, Good Morning America, Bloomberg, CBS News, and National Public Radio.

This webinar is presented by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control Training and Technical Assistance and cosponsored by the Region IV Public Health Training Center.

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Antimicrobial Resistance and Multi-Drug Resistant Organism in Hospitals and Long-Term Care Facilities

Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow. Resistant infections can be difficult, and sometimes impossible to treat. Multidrug-resistant organisms are bacteria’s that have become resistant to certain antibiotics, and these antibiotics can no longer be used to control or kill the bacteria. Antibiotics are important medicines. They help fight infections that are caused by bacteria. Bacteria that resist treatment with more than one antibiotic are called multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs for short), (ct.gov,2023).

Examples of (MDROs), includes methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) and certain gram-negative bacilli (GNB) which have important infection control implications that either have not been addressed or received only limited consideration (CDC,2015).

Below are recommended resources for hospitals and long-term care facilities on MDROs:

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

The Changing Landscape of Antimicrobial Resistance Following the COVID-19 Pandemic

MULTI DRUG-RESISTANT ORGANISMS (MDROs)

General information about MDROs: What are they?

General Recommendations for Routine Prevention and Control of MDROs in Healthcare Settings

Preventing the Spread of Novel or Targeted Multidrug-resistant Organisms (MDROs)

Infection Prevention of MDROs in Long-Term Care Settings

Candida auris: A multi-drug resistant pathogen

Candida auris is an emerging pathogen that results in nosocomial infections and is considered a serious global health problem. It was first observed as a novel Candida species in 2009 and has been isolated in 35 countries.

C. auris may cause invasive infections associated with high mortality. It is considered a multi-drug resistant species, having variable resistance patterns to many typical antifungal agents used to treat other Candida infections.

The CDC is concerned about C. auris for three main reasons:

It is often multidrug-resistant, meaning that it is resistant to multiple antifungal drugs commonly used to treat Candida infections. Some strains are resistant to all three available classes of antifungals.
It is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods, and it can be misidentified in labs without specific technology. Misidentification may lead to inappropriate management.
It has caused outbreaks in healthcare settings. For this reason, it is important to quickly identify C. auris in a hospitalized patient so that healthcare facilities can take special precautions to stop its spread.

Candida Auris: What is it? Can we stop it? | ARC IPC

Resources for Candida auris:

General Information:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/candida-auris-qanda.html
Multi-lingual fact sheets on Candida auris by the CDC: contains information on Candida auris.what we need to know, cases over time and global threat of the disease in languages such as English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean and Haitian – Candida auris: A multi-drug resistant pathogen

Infection Prevention:

Infection Prevention and Control for Candida auris: contains infection prevention guidelines and transmission based precaution – https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/c-auris-infection-control.html
Candida Auris toolkit: This toolkit includes a set of resources that your facility can utilize to detect, manage and control Candida auris and to communicate C. auris information to other healthcare providers, patients and families – https://hip.phila.gov/disease-control/healthcare-associated-infections-antibiotic-resistance/candida-auris-toolkit/
National Notifiable Disease Surveillance system tracking as per number of cases by state in the U.S – https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/fact-sheets/index.html
Strategies to Prevent Transmission of Candida auris in Healthcare Settings – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12281-023-00451-7

For Healthcare Providers:

Treatment and management of Candida auris infection and colonization – https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/candida-auris/c-auris-treatment.html

Webinars

The Changing Landscape of Antimicrobial Resistance Following the COVID-19 Pandemic (February 8, 2023, 11am CST)

This webinar is presented by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control Training and Technical Assistance. Antimicrobial resistance is one of the largest health threats to healthcare systems and the COVID-19 pandemic has identified weaknesses that have allowed for transmission within hospitals. In this talk, Dr. Rachael Lee, assistant professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases and healthcare epidemiologist for the UAB Health System will provide a summary of the epidemiology of antimicrobial resistant bacteria in a pandemic era. This webinar is co-sponsored by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control, Region IV Public Health Training Center, and Deep South Center for Occupational Health and Safety.

The Deep South Center for OH&S is an approved provider of continuing education units for nurses by the AL Board of Nursing (Provider ABNP0420 Expiration Date 12/22/2025) and has awarded this program 1.0 CEUs.

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Protect and Preserve: Priorities of Antimicrobial Stewardship (November 1, 2022 12pm CST)

This webinar is presented by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control Training and Technical Assistance. Antimicrobials are essential for modern medicine; however, they become less effective over time. In addition, adverse effects and other negative consequences of antimicrobial use are not uncommon. This presentation, Dr. Matthew Brown will provide an overview of antimicrobial stewardship and how it can help protect patients and preserve the utility of these important medications. This webinar was co-sponsored by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control, Deep South Center for Occupational Health & Safety, and the Region IV Public Health Training Center.

Dr. Matthew Brown, Pharm.D., BCPS, BCIDP is the supervising pharmacist for antimicrobial stewardship and the director of the PGY2 infectious diseases pharmacy residency program at UAB Hospital in Birmingham, AL.

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