Becker's Clinical Quality & Infection Control

6 INFECTION CONTROL CDC awards $22M to fight infectious disease, antimicrobial resistance: 4 things to know By Gabrielle Masson T he CDC has given $22 million to 28 organizations to fight antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease, according to a Dec. 7 news release. Four things to know: 1. e $22 million will be disseminated to organizations worldwide through the establishment of two new networks: the Global Action in Healthcare Network and the Global AR Laboratory and Response Network. 2. e Global Action in Healthcare Network will be a global collaborative network aiming to address and reduce emerging infections in healthcare settings and affected communities. e Global AR Lab & Response Network will work to improve the detection of emerging antimicrobial-resistant threats and identify risk factors that drive the emergence and spread across healthcare, the community and the environment. 3. e two new networks, paired with additional short-term research projects, will span more than 50 countries and build programs focused on preventing infections in healthcare; build lab capacity to detect antimicrobial-resistant organisms; and develop innovative ways to more rapidly detect and respond to threats like antimicrobi- al resistance and COVID-19. 4. e U.S. organizations receiving funding are: American Society for Microbiology; American Type Culture Collection; American University of Beirut; Association of Public Health Laboratories; New York City-based Columbia University; Durham, N.C.-based Duke University; Family Health International; Global Scientific Solu- tions for Health; Health Security Partners; Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University; Evanston, Ill.-based Northwestern University; Pan American Health Organization; Columbus-based Ohio State University; U.S. Civilian Research & Development Foundation; Phil- adelphia-based University of Pennsylvania; Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University; Pullman-based Washington State University; and Washington University in St. Louis. e institutions received the awards through a competitive selection process based on scientific needs and funds available. n Hospitals should use COVID-19 insights to revamp infection control policies, review suggests By Cailey Gleeson H ospitals should use insights to revise "outdated" infection prevention and control policies, a review published in Annals of Internal Medicine Nov. 9 sug- gested. Current infection control measures are based on a "false simplification" of respiratory virus transmission, Michael Klompas, MD, lead review author, told U.S. News and World Report. An understanding of other factors, such as duration of exposure and ventilation, will allow leaders to make more informed decisions about infection control measures within their systems. Three key recommendations: 1. Consider using N95 masks in the care of all patients with respiratory infections, and not only during aerosol-gener- ating procedures. 2. Allocate airborne-infection isolation rooms for patients with respiratory infections and a high viral load. 3. Review minimum ventilation standards, and consider increasing standards for nonclinical areas. n New research hints at why omicron may spread faster, cause less severe illness By Erica Carbajal T he omicron coronavirus variant infects and multi- plies 70 times faster in the human bronchus than delta and the original strain, according to prelimi- nary findings from researchers at the University of Hong Kong in China. This finding may explain why the strain appears to be more transmissible, researchers said. The early findings are based on an analysis of respiratory tract tissues, according to a Dec. 15 news release. The research team found that while omicron replicated about 70 times faster in the human bronchus, it was less efficient — about 10 times lower — at replicating in human lung tissue compared to the original coronavirus strain. The suggestion that omicron slows down once it reaches the lungs may explain why cases linked to the strain appear to be less severe, researchers said. The World Health Organization on Dec. 14 warned omicron is spreading faster than any other COVID-19 variant and preliminary findings from researchers in South Africa, where omicron was first detected, suggest the variant spreads more than twice as fast as delta. n

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