Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

16 INFECTION CONTROL Rates of stethoscope cleaning, hand hygiene practices 'lower than expected' in ED, study says By Anuja Vaidya A study published in the American Journal of Infection Control exam- ined stethoscope cleaning and hand hygiene in an emergency department setting. Researchers anonymously observed stethoscope cleaning and hand hygiene practices during and after 426 patient encounters at an ED in the VA San Diego Healthcare System. Of the 426 encoun- ters, 26.1 percent involved a personal stethoscope. Five study findings: 1. In 13 percent of the encounters involving a stethoscope, the provider placed a glove over the stethoscope before patient contact. 2. Providers cleaned the stethoscope with water and a hand towel before patient inter- action in 4.3 percent of the encounters. 3. Providers cleaned the stethoscope with an alcohol swab aer patient interaction in 11.3 percent of the encounters. 4. Providers used hand sanitizers or washed hands before patient interaction in 50 percent of the encounters. Aer patient in- teraction, hand sanitizer use or handwashing increased to 77.9 percent. 5. In 48.4 percent of encounters, gloves were used before patient interaction. "Rates of stethoscope and hand hygiene per- formance were lower than expected," study authors concluded. n Flu shot, spray OK for next season, says American Academy of Pediatrics By Mackenzie Bean B oth the flu shot and nasal spray vaccine are acceptable for children during the 2019-20 flu season, the American Academy of Pediatrics announced March 14. Three things to know: 1. The AAP and the CDC discouraged using the nasal spray during the 2016-17 and 2017-18 flu seasons. The groups cited concerns about the spray's effectiveness against H1N1, which had been the predominant flu strain during both seasons. 2. AAP recommended using the flu shot as the pri- mary method of vaccination for children during the current flu season, but noted the nasal spray was OK for some children. 3. AAP updated its recommendation for the upcoming season after examining flu season characteristics and reviewing new data on vaccine coverage and effec- tiveness from the U.K . While U.K. data differs from U.S. data, officials said the data was encouraging. The AAP also looked at data involving a reformulated version of the nasal spray vaccine, which has proven more effec- tive against H1N1. 4. The CDC's flu shot recommendations, which will be released in June, will likely be similar to AAP's guid- ance, the group said. n AMA calls on tech CEOs to address anti-vaccine content By Mackenzie Bean T he American Medical Association is calling on major technology companies to ensure their users have access to accurate information on vaccines. AMA CEO and Executive Vice President James Madara, MD, discussed the threat of anti-vaccine messages posted online in a March 13 letter to the CEOs of Amazon, Face- book, Google, Pinterest, Twitter and YouTube. "As physicians, we are concerned that the proliferation of this type of health-related misinformation will undermine sound science, further decrease vaccinations and persuade people to make medical decisions that could spark the spread of easily preventable diseases," Dr. Madara wrote in the letter. The AMA challenged the companies to create and share plans for how they will provide users with access to scientif- ically-validated information on vaccines. The move came a week after American Academy of Pedi- atrics President Kyle Yasuda, MD, penned a similar letter to Facebook, Google and Pinterest, calling anti-vaccine misinformation a "public health crisis." Many of the technology companies addressed in the letters are already taking steps to tackle anti-vaccine messages. Google and YouTube, for example, are collaborating with health experts to display authoritative information on vac- cines during user searches for medical content. n

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