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QUALITY
&
ACCREDITATION
CDC Director: Zika Threat
Remains Active — 5 Things to
Know
By Mary Rechtoris
F
ormer CDC Director Tom Frieden,
MD, said Zika is still a large threat
and people should not forgo protec-
tive measures against the infection, ac-
cording to STAT.
Here are five things to know:
1. Dr. Frieden told STAT if a woman is
pregnant, she should not travel to a place
where Zika-transmission is active.
2. Many believe the Zika's threat is dimin-
ishing or surpassed, but Dr. Frieden coun-
tered these claims saying it continues to
be "a devastating problem for families and
individuals."
3. e CDC has dealt with many firsts
when dealing with Zika including advis-
ing pregnant women to avoid various U.S.
regions and 13 Latin American countries.
e CDC also created a registry to track
Zika-infected women's pregnancies.
4. Mounting evidence linked Zika to mi-
crocephaly in newborns, but the agency
did not have definitive proof. Nonethe-
less, the CDC issued a warning concern-
ing microcephaly for pregnant women
in January 2016 which Dr. Frieden
told STAT "may have been the single most
important thing we did."
5. e CDC has recruited experts span-
ning many fields such as infectious diseases,
birth defects, reproductive health, mosquito
control and sexually transmitted diseases to
manage its response to the infection.
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6 Top Advocacy Issues
for APIC in 2017
By Laura Dyrda
T
he Association for Professional
Infection Control and Epidemiol-
ogy released its "Voice for Infec-
tion Prevention: Public Policy Agenda"
outline the organization's key advocacy
focus for 2017.
APIC will focus on the following issues:
1. APIC's federal funding priorities
2. Eliminating healthcare-associated in-
fections
3. Antibiotic resistance
4. Antibiotic stewardship
5. Mandatory influenza vaccination for
healthcare personnel
6. Data and information technology use
to prevent HAIs
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