Human Papillomavirus, Herpes Zoster, and Hepatitis B Vaccinations in Immunocompromised Patients: An Update for Pharmacists.

Purpose: Current evidence regarding efficacy and safety of human papillomavirus 9-valent (9vHPV), recombinant zoster (RZV), and CpG-adjuvanted recombinant hepatitis B (HepB-CpG) vaccines in adults with human immunodeficiency virus, inflammatory bowel disease, solid organ transplant, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant is reviewed.

Summary: Patients immunocompromised due to underlying disease or treatment are at increased risk for infections; however, insufficient understanding of various vaccines' efficacy, safety, indications, and contraindications in this population has led to suboptimal vaccination rates. The Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) published guidelines on vaccines in immunocompromised populations in 2013.

Is There a Correlation Between Infection Control Performance and Other Hospital Quality Measures?

Quality measures are increasingly reported by hospitals to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), yet there may be tradeoffs in performance between infection control (IC) and other quality measures. Hospitals that performed best on IC measures did not perform well on most CMS non-IC quality measures. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:736-739.

Effect of chlorhexidine bathing and other infection control practices on the Benefits of Universal Glove and Gown (BUGG) trial: a subgroup analysis.

We report the results of a subgroup analysis of the Benefits of Universal Glove and Gown trial. In 20 intensive care units, the reduction in acquisition of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus observed in this trial was observed in units also using chlorhexidine bathing and in those that previously performed active surveillance.