Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1446606
9 INFECTION CONTROL Oregon health officials probe state's 1st C. auris outbreak By Erica Carbajal C andida auris, a deadly, drug-resistant fungus, has been detected in three Salem (Ore.) Health pa- tients, marking the state's first cases of the infection. The first case at Salem Hospital was identified Dec. 11 in a patient who had "recent international healthcare expo- sures, and confirmed Dec. 17," the Oregon Health Au- thority said in a Dec. 28 news release. The other two cases weren't tied to international healthcare exposures, though were epidemiologically linked to the first case, which suggests healthcare-associated spread of the fungus. The second and third cases were identified Dec. 23 and Dec. 27, respectively. "Candida auris is an emerging pathogen of concern be- cause it can cause serious infections, particularly in those with serious medical problems, and can be resistant to the antifungal drugs we have to treat it," said Rebecca Pierce, PhD, manager of the healthcare-associated infections program at the Oregon Health Authority's public health division. "Fortunately, the organism we're dealing with in this outbreak appears to respond to existing treatments. Nonetheless, it's critical that we prevent the spread of the infection." The health authority is working with local partners and the CDC on the investigation. Salem Health officials said the system has taken measures to prevent further spread of the fungus, including thorough communication about a patient's C. auris status during facility transfers. More than 1,150 clinical cases of C. auris have been reported in the U.S. since 2013, according to the health authority. n N95 masks can be safely reprocessed 25 times, study suggests By Cailey Gleeson A common type of N95 respirator can be safely reprocessed up to 25 times using vaporized hy- drogen peroxide, a study published Jan. 5 in the Journal of Infection Control found. Researchers used vaporized hydrogen peroxide to decontaminate seven N95 respirators that were used by three male and four female volunteers from June to August of 2020, and conducted a series of quali- tative and quantitative tests evaluating both function and effectiveness. Tests included a user seal check, qualitative and quan- titative respirator fit testing, and filtration efficiency testing. Even after 25 decontamination cycles, research- ers found no changes in respiratory integrity or filtration efficiency among the seven respirators. "The findings from our study expand upon previous findings and show that VHP is a relatively safe method for reprocessing N95 respirators and could help address shortages in future epidemics," lead author Christina Yen, MD, an assistant professor in the internal medicine department at Dallas-based UT Southwestern Medical Center, said in a news release. "It is important that we now find ways to scale and translate this disinfection ca- pability to smaller hospitals and resource-limited health- care settings that could benefit just as much – perhaps more – from this type of personal protective equipment reprocessing in future disaster scenarios." n Yale researchers develop personal COVID-19 exposure detector By Erica Carbajal A team of researchers from New Haven, Conn.-based Yale Uni- versity have developed a wearable air sampler device meant to monitor personal exposure to the virus that causes COVID-19. e team first tested the polydimethylsiloxane-based air sampler in a rotating drum experiment, according to findings published Jan. 11 in Environmental Science & Technology Letters. Polymerase chain reaction testing detected virus in the sampler aer it was in the rotating drum, which contained aerosols laden with a surrogate virus similar to SARS-CoV-2. Researchers then embedded the passive sampler in a wearable clip design. Sixty-two participants wore the samplers for five days, after which PCR testing detected the virus on five (8 percent) of them. Of those, four were worn by restaurant servers and one by an employee at a homeless shelter. The highest viral loads were found in two of the clips worn by the restaurant servers. "Our findings demonstrate that PDMS-based passive samplers may serve as a useful exposure assessment tool for airborne viral exposure in real-world, high-risk settings and provide avenues for early detection of potential cases and guidance on site-specif- ic infection control protocols that preempt community transmis- sion," researchers said. n