Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1337263
14 INFECTION CONTROL New York hospital fires employee for refusing flu shot By Erica Carbajal G lens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital fired longtime employee Lisa Amorosi Dec. 1 for refusing to get a flu shot aer citing bad reactions from past flu vaccines, e Post Star reported. Ms. Amorosi, who worked at the check-in desk at Glens Falls Cancer Center, said she hasn't gotten a flu vaccine for the past five years, instead wearing a mask during the six months of flu season. In the past, she reported getting a flu shot yearly, but stopped when she felt sick for months on end aer receiving it. "My skin literally hurt. My clothes hurt. It lasted eight months out of the year," she told e Post Star. "I thought it was a fluke. Normally, I'm healthy all year long. I got the flu shot the second year, the same thing happened — I felt like crap for about eight months." Aer that, she decided not to get a flu vaccine anymore. In 2020, the hospital changed its protocol to require all nonallergic employees to get vaccinated by Dec. 1, or be terminated. "As healthcare workers providing care to some of the most vulnerable in our population, we determined that the responsible stance to take within our organization is to make flu vacci- nation mandatory," Ray Agnew, hospital spokesperson, said in a statement shared with e Post Star. "is is the norm, not the exception, among almost all Capital Region hospitals." ose who didn't want the vaccine were offered a free evaluation from an independent allergist. Employees allergic to essential vaccine components were exempt. An allergist told Ms. Amorosi there was no way to confirm her reactions were linked to the vaccine, dismissing an exemption qualification. She declined the eggless vaccine, an alternative for people who might be allergic to certain components in the regular vaccine, and was fired Dec. 1. n Hospitals saw drop in some HAIs in 2019: 4 CDC findings By Gabrielle Masson U .S. hospitals saw improvement fighting bloodstream and urinary tract infections rates in 2019, according to the CDC's National and State HAI Progress Report. The report uses 2018-19 data from more than 36,000 hospitals, nursing homes and other healthcare facilities to analyze rates of central line-associated blood- stream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, ventilator-associated events, surgical site infections, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus blood- stream events and Clostridioides difficile events. Four national report findings for acute care hospitals: 1. Overall, U.S. hospitals reported a 7 percent decrease in CLABSIs from 2018 to 2019, with the largest decrease — 13 percent — in neonatal intensive care units. 2. CAUTIs dropped by 8 percent, with the largest decrease — 12 percent — re- ported by intensive care units. 3. VAEs increased by 2 percent, with the highest increase observed in ICUs. 4. There was no significant change in SSIs. n Seattle Children's loses legal fight to keep mold outbreak records from public By Gabrielle Masson A court denied Seattle Chil- dren's Hospital's request to overturn a decision that re- quires the hospital to turn over public health records concerning mold in- fections to local reporters, The Center Square reported Dec. 30. Seattle Children's Hospital has faced sporadic mold outbreaks that have infected 14 patients and resulted in seven deaths since 2001. The CDC identified an old humidifier as the cause of the outbreaks, as droplets produced by the humidifier were too large to be diffused by the hospital's air ventilation system, allowing for condensation and mold growth. In August 2019, a King 5 News reporter filed a records request to King County Public Health regarding the mold infections. KCPH said 4,700 pages of relevant records could be released to King 5 News without redactions. Seattle Children's objected, arguing the records contained confidential patient information protected under HIPAA. In February 2019, the Washington Department of Health said it would release more than 800 pages of med- ical records subject to redaction for only identifiable patient healthcare information. Seattle Children's filed a preliminary injunction Feb. 14, 2020, to block the release of any remaining medical records. On Dec. 29, 2020, the Washington Division I Court of Appeals rejected Seattle Children's request to over- turn a judge's March 23 decision or- dering the release of 847 pages of records related to mold infections. The lawsuit will be sent back to trial court to ensure the requested medical records comply with patient privacy laws. n