Emerging Pathogen Threats: Strategies for Infection Prevention & Control

Session overview:

In today’s rapidly evolving world, emerging pathogen threats pose significant challenges for infection preventionists. In fact, a Public Health Emergency of International Concern is declared by the World Health Organization every two years. With climate change, populations becoming denser, increased global travel, and humans coming into closer contact with wild animals, infectious diseases are emerging with greater severity and speed. As new infectious agents continue to emerge and spread, it is imperative to not only arm infection preventionists with the awareness to identify these pathogens, but also develop and implement effective infection prevention and control strategies to safeguard patients, visitors, and staff within healthcare facilities. This session aims to delve into the dynamic landscape of emerging pathogen threats, touch on their origins, modes of transmission, and potential impact on populations. The present and most likely near-future pathogen threats for the United States and those with potential risk due to high global connectivity will be examined drawing from global surveillance data. Measures that should be taken for travelers entering healthcare facilities to reduce the risk of misdiagnosis, delays in diagnosis, or delays in implementation of appropriate infection control measures will be explored. Understanding the epidemiology, including transmission routes, of novel pathogens is key to controlling them. This session will address infection prevention and control measures that should be implemented to control the spread of novel pathogens within and between healthcare facilities using case studies and knowledge checks. Subtleties in transmission-based precautions and cleaning and disinfecting against selected emerging pathogens will be highlighted. The over-arching goal of this session is to provide infection preventionists with the knowledge and tools to adequately respond to these increasingly emerging threats.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify 3 present and potential emerging pathogen threats for the United States.
• Describe considerations for travel screening and the risks for misdiagnosis, delays in diagnosis, and delays in control measure implementation.
• Distinguish subtleties around infection control against these emerging threats with a focus on transmission-based precautions and cleaning and disinfection.