Phenelle Segal to Discuss Dental Infection Prevention at APIC 2019

Phenelle Segal, RN, CIC, FAPIC, founder and president of Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS), will be presenting at APIC 2019, the annual event hosted by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

This year's meeting will take place June 12–14 in Philadelphia. It is expected to be the largest gathering of infection prevention professionals in the world.

Phenelle will be presenting on "Breaches in Dental Infection Prevention: Could This Be Your Practice?" on Friday, June 14, from 8:00 AM – 9:00 AM. She will be accompanied by Luci Perri.

The session's description is as follows:

This session discusses a detailed description of findings related to onsite observations at dental practices and oral surgery centers across the continuum of care. Practices were reviewed against the CDC Guidelines for Infection Control and Dental Health-Care Settings and Basic Expectations for Safe Care and current FDA and American Dental Association (ADA) guidelines. Examples of review metrics include but are not limited to cold chemical sterilization, instrument sterilization, dental unit waterlines, safe injection practices, use of PPE, operatory room turnover, and tips about table top sterilizers.

These onsite observations showed that individual practices consistently fall out of compliance, putting patients and employees at risk from the lack of effective disinfection, sterilization, and knowledge of IPC best practices.

This topic is important and much needed since the dental community, including oral surgery, is often overlooked and the risk of blood-borne pathogens from lack of effective disinfection and sterilization is of concern. This concern is well-founded as there have several documented outbreaks of hepatitis and bacterial infections in patients.

Participants will understand the various risk factors that are specific to dental practices and oral surgery centers and learn the steps necessary to remediate deficiencies. In addition, we will address a written dental IPC program and essential resources to enhance best practices.

If you are interested in arranging a meeting with Phenelle, contact ICCS.

Measles Outbreak: 8 Resources for Outpatient Settings

Several outpatient center clients have recently contacted Infection Control Consulting Services (ICCS) regarding the measles epidemic and how outpatient settings should respond.

To help our clients and all outpatient settings, we have compiled a compendium of resources available for free access and download, and can be adopted for use, and shared links to them below. If you are in a high endemic area, start thinking about ways to leverage these and other resources before the outbreak gets out of hand. We have seen an exponential increase in cases in the United States over the course of the past few weeks and believe it's only a matter of time before all states report cases.

By sharing these resources and this guidance, we are not aiming to create the type of "hysteria" witnessed in 2014 concerning Ebola that ultimately did not affect most of the United States. However, the growing numbers of measles cases are cause for concern, as are the increasing number of "anti-vaxxers" in those communities where high rates are seen, thus putting others at risk. It is reasonable to believe that such individuals live in communities throughout the country, so it would be wise for all healthcare providers, including outpatient settings, to be proactive in their efforts to educate their patient communities and reduce the likelihood of new outbreaks.

Measles Resources 

1. Measles web graphics (infographics, button and banner for your website) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

2. "Measles Surveillance Toolkit for Healthcare Settings" from the Arizona Department of Health Services (includes numerous resources, including a screening tool, signage, a case tracking form and an exposure event worksheet)

3. "Minimize Measles Transmission in Health Care Settings" two-page booklet from the Minnesota Department of Health

4. "When to Suspect and Test for Measles" poster from the Minnesota Department of Health

5. "Measles Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP) for Non-Symptomatic Susceptible Contacts" booklet from the Minnesota Department of Health

6. "Common Rashes/Illnesses in Children" poster from NYC Health

7. "Preventing Measles in Health Care Settings During an Outbreak" booklet from NYC Health

8. Measles fact sheet from the Maryland Department of Health

April 2019 Issue of Infection Prevention & Control Newsletter Published

The April 2019 issue of the ICCS Infection Prevention & Control Newsletter has published.

The issue includes stories on Joint Commission top challenging standards, duodenoscopes, knee replacement, sharps injuries, outpatient prescribing of antibiotics, rotator cuff surgery and much more.

Access the latest issue of our infection prevention newsletter.

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