Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

9 INFECTION CONTROL Flu cases significantly down in Southern Hemisphere By Mackenzie Bean C ountries in the Southern Hemisphere are reporting low numbers of influenza and other seasonal viruses, which could offer a sliver of hope for U.S. hospitals this fall, reported e Wall Street Journal. Health experts oen look to the Southern Hemisphere's flu season, which typically runs from April to September, as a predictor for the Northern Hemisphere's upcoming flu season. Many hospitals have been bracing to treat a flood of COVID-19 and flu patients this fall, which could strain resources and bed capacity. However, many countries in the Southern Hemisphere are reporting fewer cases of respiratory illnesses like flu, respiratory syncytial virus and pneumo- coccal disease this season. Health experts say the decline may be an indirect benefit of measures to control the spread of COVID-19. At present, Chile has reported 1,134 seasonal respiratory illnesses this year, compared to 20,949 for the same period last year. "We keep checking for the other viruses, but all we're seeing is COVID," Dr. Claudia Cortés, an infectious disease specialist in Chile, told the Journal. "We were surprised by the decline in the other viruses like influenza. We never dreamed it would practically disappear." n 'I'm fighting a war against COVID-19 and a war against stupidity,' says Houston hospital CMO By Molly Gamble A fter two hours of sleep a night for four months and seeing a member of his team contract the virus, Joseph Varon, MD, is growing exasperated. "I'm pretty much fighting two wars: A war against COVID and a war against stupidity," Dr. Varon, CMO and chief of critical care at United Memorial Medical Center in Houston, told NBC News in July. "And the problem is the first one, I have some hope about win- ning. But the second one is becoming more and more difficult." Dr. Varon noted that whether it's informa- tion backed by science or common sense, people throughout the U.S. are not listening. "The thing that annoys me the most is that we keep on doing our best to save all these people, and then you get another batch of people that are doing exactly the opposite of what you're telling them to do." In an interview with NPR, Dr. Varon said he has woken up at dawn every day for the past four months and has headed to the hospital. There, he spends six to 12 hours on rounds before seeing new admissions. He then re- turns home to sleep two hours, at most. He said his staff is physically and emotionally drained. UMMC nurse Christina Mathers spoke with NBC News from a hospital bed in the seg- ment, noting that she had tested positive for COVID-19 after not feeling well during one of her shifts. "All the fighting, all the screaming, all the finger pointing — enough is enough," Ms. Mathers told NBC. "People just need to listen to us. We're not going to lie. Why would we lie?" Ms. Mathers had worked every other day since April 29, according to The Atlantic, which created a photo essay of Dr. Varon and the UMMC team at work. n US to revive research program for emerging diseases By Mackenzie Bean T he U.S. will implement a new version of an infectious disease surveillance program that expired last fall, just months before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, reported The New York Times. The United States Agency for International Development halted funding for the Predict program in October 2019, which identified potentially dangerous animal viruses that could spread to hu- mans. The program launched in 2009 in response to 2005's H5N1 bird flu scare. This October, the Agency for International Development will launch a $100 million program, Stop Spillover, which will function similar to Predict. Denis Carroll, PhD, creator and former director of Predict, said he designed Stop Spillover as a "companion piece" to Predict to help spot outbreaks of known pathogens. Predict functioned as a surveil- lance program for unknown pathogens. Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden told the Times he would restore funding for Predict if elected. n

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