• One of the most pressing issues , according to epidemiologists and public health experts , is a lack of funding , but in late fall , the Biden administration announced a $ 2.1 billion investment to improve infection prevention and control activities across the U . S . public health and healthcare sectors .
Infection Prevention Funding
One of the most pressing issues , according to epidemiologists and public health experts , is a lack of funding , but in late fall , the Biden administration announced a $ 2.1 billion investment to improve infection prevention and control activities across the U . S . public health and healthcare sectors .
The CDC says that the funding will assist healthcare personnel to prevent infections more effectively in healthcare settings , support rapid response to detect and contain infectious organisms , enhance laboratory capacity , and engage in innovation targeted at combating infectious disease threats . The agency adds that improvements in infection prevention will span the healthcare continuum , including 6,000 hospitals , 15,400 nursing homes and other long-term care facilities , 7,900 dialysis clinics , and 4,700 ambulatory surgery centers , and will extend to other outpatient settings . Additionally , the CDC says these investments will help address the rise of healthcare-associated infections ( HAIs ), which increased as U . S . hospitals were inundated by COVID-19 , reversing much of the national progress seen prior to the pandemic .
Over the next three years , the CDC says it will issue $ 1.25 billion of the total to 64 state , local and territorial health departments to support this work . Initial awards totaling $ 885 million was scheduled to be made in October to these jurisdictional health departments . The CDC says it will $ 500 million to support a new force in the fight against COVID-19 to protect what it considers to be disproportionately affected populations , specifically state-based nursing home and long-term care strike teams . This funding , in partnership with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ( CMS ), will allow state and other jurisdictional health departments to staff , train and deploy strike teams to assist long-term care facilities with known or suspected COVID-19 outbreaks . The strike teams will allow jurisdictions to provide surge capacity to facilities for clinical services ; address staffing shortages at facilities ; and strengthen infection prevention and control ( IP & C ) activities to prevent , detect and contain outbreaks , including support for COVID-19 vaccine boosters .
The remaining $ 385 million was earmarked for state , local , and territorial health departments to strengthen five critical areas :
● Strengthening state capacity to prevent , detect , and contain infectious disease threats across healthcare settings : CDC will provide significant infection prevention and control assistance to public health departments to work with healthcare facilities to improve the quality of healthcare ; strengthen interventions for the prevention and containment of infectious diseases to minimize the spread of infection in a variety of healthcare settings ; identify , address , and monitor healthcare-related disparities and health equity ; and increase capacity to investigate outbreaks of healthcare-associated infections .
● Laboratory capacity for healthcare : Funds provided will also increase state and regional laboratory capacity to conduct surveillance for emerging pathogens to better identify patients infected with or carrying infectious disease threats , such as antibiotic-resistant germs like “ nightmare bacteria ” carbapenem-resistant Enterobacterales ( CRE ) and Candida auris . Throughout the pandemic , there have been outbreaks of antibiotic-resistant pathogens in COVID-19 units and other healthcare settings .
● Project Firstline : Funds will expand on efforts to design and implement effective infection prevention and control training and education to frontline healthcare staff , leveraging a unique collaborative of healthcare , public health , and academic partners . Project Firstline aims to meet the various education needs of its diverse healthcare workforce ; ensure they have the knowledge they need to protect themselves , their coworkers , and their patients ; and develop training and education that addresses disparities across U . S . healthcare personnel . In its first year , CDC ’ s Project Firstline and its partners developed more than 130 educational products and hosted more than 200 educational events on infection prevention and control , engaging approximately 16,300 healthcare workers from professions ranging from environmental services workers , to nurses , to physicians .
● National Healthcare Safety Network ( NHSN ): CDC will increase data and monitoring through NHSN to determine where and when infections occur in healthcare settings and target IPC interventions . Funds will support state efforts to improve the NHSN data collection from healthcare facilities . This includes state coordination , expansion in reporting , and providing greater technical assistance to facilities that are reporting healthcare quality and preparedness-related data .
● Antibiotic Stewardship : Funds will support state data analyses of antibiotic use and implement programs to improve antibiotic prescribing across communities , including addressing health disparities related to antibiotic use . Despite being ineffective against COVID-19 , antibiotics have been commonly prescribed to patients during the pandemic , increasing the risk of antibiotic resistance .
In addition , $ 880 million will be used over several years to support healthcare partners , academic institutions , and other nonprofit partners to develop new prevention interventions and capacities for infection prevention and control training , data collection , and technical assistance .
COVID , Flu Season , and Co-infection
For the second consecutive year , influenza season is emerging against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic . While the number of flu cases was relatively low last year , experts at Johns Hopkins Medicine say that this year , it could be much higher .
“ We thought that the 2020-2021 flu season would be severe , but that didn ’ t materialize ,” says Lisa Maragakis , MD , MPH , senior director of infection prevention for the Johns Hopkins Health System and associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine . “ It ’ s likely that because