SHEA practice update: infection prevention and control (IPC) in residential facilities for pediatric patients and their families.

In 2011, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®) established a formal collaboration to develop the first IPC guideline. Both organizations agreed that RMH programs staff and other organizations operating similar programs would benefit from a standardized approach. In 2023, the collaboration was re-established to revise and update the original IPC guideline.

Caregiver Intent and Willingness to Accept COVID-19 Vaccine in the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Background: While COVID-19 vaccine (CV) acceptance is improving, little is known about parental acceptance of CV in the pediatric emergency department (PED).

Objectives: The aims of the study are to assess rates of CV uptake among eligible children presenting to the PED, describe caregiver willingness to accept CV in the PED, and assess potential ED-based interventions to increase CV acceptance.

Methods: We surveyed caregivers of 384 children aged ≥6 months presenting to the PED for minor illness/injury.

Introduction to .

Since the initial publication of in 2008, the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has continued to be a national priority. Progress in healthcare epidemiology, infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, and implementation science research has led to improvements in our understanding of effective strategies for HAI prevention. Despite these advances, HAIs continue to affect ∼1 of every 31 hospitalized patients, leading to substantial morbidity, mortality, and excess healthcare expenditures, and persistent gaps remain between what is recommended and what is practiced.

Test-to-Stay After SARS-CoV-2 Exposure: A Mitigation Strategy for Optionally Masked K-12 Schools.

Objectives: We evaluated the impact of a test-to-stay (TTS) program on within-school transmission and missed school days in optionally masked kindergarten through 12th grade schools during a period of high community severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 transmission.

Methods: Close contacts of those with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection were eligible for enrollment in the TTS program if exposure to a nonhousehold contact occurred between November 11, 2021 and January 28, 2022. Consented participants avoided school exclusion if they remained asymptomatic and rapid antigen testing at prespecified intervals remained negative.

Test-to-Stay After Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools.

Objectives: We evaluated the safety and efficacy of a test-to-stay program for unvaccinated students and staff who experienced an unmasked, in-school exposure to someone with confirmed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Serial testing instead of quarantine was offered to asymptomatic contacts. We measured secondary and tertiary transmission rates within participating schools and in-school days preserved for participants.

SHEA Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) White Paper Series: Practical approaches for the prevention of central-line-associated bloodstream infections.

This document is part of the "SHEA Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) White Paper Series." It is intended to provide practical, expert opinion, and/or evidence-based answers to frequently asked questions about CLABSI detection and prevention in the NICU. This document serves as a companion to the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) Guideline for Prevention of Infections in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Patients.

Standardized Vaccine-Hesitant Patients in the Assessment of the Effectiveness of Vaccine Communication Training.

Objectives: To determine if training residents in a structured communication method elicits specific behaviors in a laboratory model of interaction with vaccine-hesitant parents.

Study Design: Standardized patients portraying vaccine-hesitant parents were used to assess the effectiveness of training in the Announce, Inquire, Mirror, Secure (AIMS) Method for Healthy Conversations. Blinded pediatric residents were pseudorandomized to receive AIMS or control training and underwent pre- and post-training encounters with blinded standardized patients.

Variability in Culture-Negative Peritonitis Rates in Pediatric Peritoneal Dialysis Programs in the United States.

Background And Objectives: International guidelines suggest a target culture-negative peritonitis rate of <15% among patients receiving long-term peritoneal dialysis. Through a pediatric multicenter dialysis collaborative, we identified variable rates of culture-negative peritonitis among participating centers. We sought to evaluate whether specific practices are associated with the variability in culture-negative rates between low- and high-culture-negative rate centers.

Reliability of nonlocalizing signs and symptoms as indicators of the presence of infection in nursing-home residents.

Antibiotics are among the most common medications prescribed in nursing homes. The annual prevalence of antibiotic use in residents of nursing homes ranges from 47% to 79%, and more than half of antibiotic courses initiated in nursing-home settings are unnecessary or prescribed inappropriately (wrong drug, dose, or duration). Inappropriate antibiotic use is associated with a variety of negative consequences including Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), adverse drug effects, drug-drug interactions, and antimicrobial resistance.

Pediatric Infectious Diseases Meets the Future.

Pediatric infectious diseases physicians are dedicated to the diagnosis, prevention, and management of infections in children. As such, we play large, and important, roles in the clinical care of children from birth to late adolescence and in infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, research pertaining to infections, public health, international and global health, and advocacy for children's health. Furthermore, we are critical to the education of future physicians (in general), pediatricians, and infectious diseases doctors.

Effect of Intranasal Mupirocin Prophylaxis on Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Transmission and Invasive Staphylococcal Infections in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The use of monthly intranasal mupirocin was associated with a significant reduction in the rate of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus transmission and Staphylococcus aureus invasive infection in a large neonatal intensive care unit. Resistance to mupirocin emerged over time, but it was rare and was not associated with adverse clinical outcomes.Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2018;39:741-745.

Development of a Comprehensive Communication Skills Curriculum for Pediatrics Residents.

Background: Effective communication is an essential element of medical care and a priority of medical education. Specific interventions to teach communication skills are at the discretion of individual residency programs.

Objective: We developed the Resident Communication Skills Curriculum (RCSC), a formal curriculum designed to teach trainees the communication skills essential for high-quality practice.

Necessary Infrastructure of Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology Programs: A Review.

The scope of a healthcare institution's infection prevention and control/healthcare epidemiology program (IPC/HE) should be driven by the size and complexity of the patient population served, that population's risk for healthcare-associated infection (HAI), and local, state, and national regulatory and accreditation requirements. Essential activities of all IPC/HE programs include but are not limited to the following: ∙ Surveillance.∙ Performance improvement to reduce HAI ∙ Acute event response, including outbreak investigation ∙ Education and training of both healthcare personnel and patients ∙ Reporting of HAI to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Healthcare Safety Network as well as entities required by law.

Viral infections in children with community-acquired pneumonia.

Viral pathogens are commonly isolated from children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). Viruses like respiratory syncytial virus, human rhinovirus, human metapneumovirus, parainfluenza viruses, and influenza may act as sole pathogens or may predispose to bacterial pneumonia by a variety of mechanisms. New, emerging, or reemerging viral pathogens occasionally cause outbreaks of severe respiratory tract infection in children.

Pediatric infectious diseases fellowship training in healthcare epidemiology: a national needs assessment.

Objective: Pediatric infectious diseases (ID) fellows are required to receive training in hospital epidemiology and infection control and prevention. We sought to assess the current state of healthcare epidemiology training for fellows and to determine which topics are considered important by key stakeholders.

Participants: US pediatric ID fellowship program directors and hospital epidemiologists.

Antibody responses to routine pediatric vaccines administered with 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine.

Background: A 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) has been licensed in >100 countries to broaden coverage against pneumococcal disease. We assessed whether PCV13 interferes with immune responses to concomitantly administered routine pediatric vaccines.

Methods: Healthy US infants were randomly assigned in 2 studies to receive PCV13 or 7-valent PCV (PCV7) at age 2, 4 and 6 months concomitantly with diphtheria, tetanus, acellular pertussis, inactivated polio virus, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b, and at age 12-15 months with measles, mumps, rubella, varicella and hepatitus A.

Infection prevention and control guidance for Ronald McDonald Houses: a needs assessment.

We surveyed Ronald McDonald Houses (RMHs) to assess infection prevention and control (IPC) practices. A diverse patient population is served by RMH. Most sites have locally written IPC guidelines, and consultation resources vary, increasing the potential for inconsistent IPC practices.