US regulations mandate annual N95 mask fit testing for healthcare workers, but the optimal testing interval is unknown. In our study using data from 12,565 healthcare workers, the probability of survival free from fit-test failure after 3 years was 99.4%, suggesting that less frequent fit testing every 3 years would be safe.

We evaluated sampling and detection methods for fungal contamination on healthcare surface materials, comparing the efficacy of foam sponges, flocked swabs, and Replicate Organism Detection And Counting (RODAC) plates alongside culture-based quantification and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). Findings indicate that sponge sampling and qPCR detection performed best, suggesting a foundation for future studies aiming to surveillance practices for fungi.

Family caregivers are essential inpatient pediatric care partners, yet their handwashing knowledge and compliance are rarely studied. Through hand hygiene audits and self-administered questionnaires, we observed 9% compliance, significantly lower than self-reported practice. We suggest interventions to improve caregiver handwashing behaviors to decrease infection transmission risk to hospitalized children.

To improve contact tracing for healthcare workers, we built and configured a Bluetooth low-energy system. We predicted close contacts with great accuracy and provided an additional contact yield of 14.8%. This system would decrease the effective reproduction number by 56% and would unnecessarily quarantine 0.74% of employees weekly.

We compared antibiotic prescribing rates for respiratory conditions in a national sample of outpatient visits from 2010 to 2018 between physicians and advanced practice clinicians (APCs). APCs prescribed antibiotics more frequently than physicians (58% vs 52%), but there were no differences in selection of guideline recommended first-line agents between specialties.

Indication-driven order entry (IDOE) was implemented at our pediatric institution for cefazolin, piperacillin-tazobactam, and meropenem; the 3 most intervened upon antibiotics during prospective audit and feedback (PAF) by the antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP). IDOE was associated with a significant reduction in both ASP PAF recommendations and clinical pharmacist interventions.

In laboratory testing, a mobile enclosed disinfection cabinet using ultraviolet-C light and aerosolized hydrogen peroxide was effective for disinfection of hard and soft surfaces. The addition of aerosolized hydrogen peroxide to ultraviolet-C light resulted in improved disinfection of soft surfaces and Clostridioides difficile spores.