Oncolytic viral immunotherapy is an emerging treatment modality for cancer that exploits in vivo replication and other viral properties to enhance immune killing of malignant cells. The potential for horizontal transmission of native or engineered oncolytic viruses creates several unique infection control challenges. In 2015, talimogene laherparepvec (TVEC) became the first agent in this class to gain FDA approval for treatment of melanoma, and several others are being developed. Although some data on the transmissibility of TVEC are available from clinical studies, the aftermarket or real-world experience remains limited. We conducted a PUBMED-based search of the medical literature focusing on the safety and risk of TVEC transmission to close contacts including healthcare workers. The findings are summarized in this review and are intended to provide infection preventionists with practical guidance on handling issues related to administration and care of patients receiving TVEC. Additionally, we describe the current mechanism for evaluating the risk related to similar new agents entering clinical trials at our institution. Development of standarized approaches for the safe administration and precautions for ongoing care, especially in immunocompromised patients, are essential to support the broad adoption of this novel therapy.

Inappropriate antibiotic use is associated with increased antimicrobial resistance and adverse events that can lead to further downstream patient harm. Preventative strategies must be employed to improve antibiotic use while reducing avoidable harm. We use the term “antibiotic never events” to globally recognize and define the most inappropriate antibiotic use.

Nurses view patient safety as an essential component of their work and have reported a general interest in embracing an antibiotic steward role. However, antibiotic stewardship (AS) functions have not been formally integrated into nursing practice despite nurses’ daily involvement in clinical activities that impact antibiotic decisions (e.g., obtaining specimens for cultures, blood drawing for therapeutic drug monitoring). Recommendations to expand AS programs to include bedside nurses are generating support at a national level, yet a practical guidance on how nurses can be involved in AS activities is lacking. In this review, we provide a framework identifying selected practices where nurses can improve antibiotic prescribing practices through appropriate obtainment of Clostridioides difficile tests, appropriate urine culturing practices, optimal antibiotic administration, accurate and detailed documentation of penicillin allergy histories and through the prompting of antibiotic time outs. We identify reported barriers to engagement of nurses in AS and offer potential solutions that include patient safety principles and quality improvement strategies that can be used to mitigate participation barriers. This review will assist AS leaders interested in advancing the contributions of nurses into their AS programs by discussing education, communication, improvement models, and workflow integration enhancements that strengthen systems to support nurses as valued partners in AS efforts.

No standardized surveillance criteria exist for surgical site infection after breast tissue expander (BTE) access. This report provides a framework for defining postaccess BTE infections and identifies contributing factors to infection during the expansion period. Implementing infection prevention guidelines for BTE access may reduce postaccess BTE infections.

To reduce the of risk infection after colorectal surgery, oral antibiotic preparation (OAP) and mechanical bowel preparation (MBP) can be applied. Whether OAP can be used without MBP is unclear. A meta-analysis of observational studies demonstrated comparable effectiveness of OAP with and without MBP regarding SSI risk.

We evaluated the impact of an electronic health record based 72-hour antimicrobial time-out (ATO) on antimicrobial utilization. We observed that 6 hours after the ATO, 21% of empiric antimicrobials were discontinued or de-escalated. There was a significant reduction in the duration of antimicrobial therapy but no impact on overall antimicrobial usage metrics.

Laboratory identification of carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a key step in controlling its spread. Our survey showed that most Veterans Affairs laboratories follow VA guidelines for initial CRE identification, whereas 55.0% use PCR to confirm carbapenemase production. Most respondents were knowledgeable about CRE guidelines. Barriers included staffing, training, and financial resources.

A point prevalence survey was conducted on May 11, 2017, among inpatients at 6 hospitals in Saudi Arabia. The overall point prevalence was 6.8% (114 of 1,666). The most common types of infections were pneumonia (27.2%), urinary tract infections (20.2%), and bloodstream infections (10.5%). Approximately 19.2% of healthcare-associated infections were device associated.

The emergence and spread of extensively multidrug-resistant organisms is a public health crisis, and long-term care settings have been identified as a reservoir for the cultivation of these organisms. Long-term care settings are now taking on increasingly ill residents with complicated medical problems, indwelling devices, and significant healthcare exposure, all of which are considered risk factors selecting for resistant organisms. Despite this, guidelines addressing infection prevention procedures in long-term care remain vague, and implementation of these guidelines is challenging, largely due to staff turnover, limited resources, knowledge gaps, and lack of organizational support. Human factors engineering approaches have emerged as an important innovation to address patient safety issues and develop interventions in the healthcare work system (ie, tools and technologies, tasks, organization, physical environment) that support human performance, which, in turn, lead to improvements in processes (eg, compliance with infection prevention guidelines) and outcomes (eg, reduced infection rates). We propose the concept of using the methods and approaches from the scientific field of human factors engineering to address the unique challenges of implementing infection prevention in the long-term care setting.

Gastrointestinal and respiratory viruses are particularly common during winter months, and reducing risk of transmission is challenging. Transfer of bacteria from the hands of one person to another is dramatically reduced with a fist bump compared to a handshake. If the same is true for viruses, should we recommend this change in greeting in the winter?

National policies target healthcare-associated infections using medical claims and National Healthcare Safety Network surveillance data. We found low concordance between the 2 data sources in rates and rankings for surgical site infection following colon surgery in 155 hospitals, underscoring the limitations in evaluating hospital quality by claims data.

The human microbiome participates in numerous aspects of human physiology and disease states. Recently, studies have begun to explore the role of the microbiome in colonization, infection and transmission of pathogens. This review provides a summary of the methodological principles used in microbiome studies and the published evidence of the impact of microbiome dysbiosis in infection prevention.

The proper functioning of central lines is imperative for the management of patients with cancer or on hemodialysis. However, these lifelines can become infected and can malfunction.

Chelators such as citrate and EDTA have been widely studied alone or in combination with other antimicrobial agents in catheter lock solutions to prevent catheter-related bloodstream infections and to maintain catheter patency. Given their anticoagulation, antiplatelet aggregation, antibiofilm, antimicrobial activity, safety profile, as well as their low cost, chelators have long been considered alternatives to heparin and a vital component of catheter lock solutions. In this review, we present a detailed summary of the properties of chelators and in vitro and in vivo studies of chelator-containing lock solutions.

We used a survey to characterize contemporary infection prevention and antibiotic stewardship program practices across 64 healthcare facilities, and we compared these findings to those of a similar 2013 survey. Notable findings include decreased frequency of active surveillance for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, frequent active surveillance for carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, and increased support for antibiotic stewardship programs.

We evaluated provider adherence to practice guidelines for inpatients diagnosed with Clostridoides difficile infection (CDI) before and after implementation of a best practice alert (BPA) linking a positive test result to guideline-based orders. After implementation of the BPA, guideline-based prescribing increased from 39.4% in 2013 to 67.7% in 2016 (P = .014).