- Impact of Electronic Stewardship Interventions on Antibiotic Prescribing for Asymptomatic Bacteriuria: A Multicenter Observational Study. [Journal Article]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Aug 08. [Online ahead of print]AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Electronic stewardship interventions reduced unnecessary antibiotic treatment of ASB. Active alerts at the time of urine culture ordering were more effective than passive reminders introduced later in care. Interventions that require immediate action appeared to be more effective than passive reminders.
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- Diagnostic Architecture of Healthcare-Associated Infection Surveillance Definitions: A Comparative Methodological Analysis of International Surveillance Frameworks. [Journal Article]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Aug 07. [Online ahead of print]AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Structural variation in HAI surveillance definitions should be considered when comparing infection indicators, implementing automated surveillance systems, or adapting surveillance frameworks across healthcare settings.
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- The visibility window of point-prevalence surveys: interpreting prolonged surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis indicators. [Journal Article]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Aug 06. [Online ahead of print]AJ
- Point-prevalence surveys (PPSs) support antimicrobial stewardship, but surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis (SAP) estimates may be shaped by visibility windows. Using PPS and prospective surgical site infection surveillance (SNICh) data, we compared crude procedure-level, visibility-weighted PPS-like, and PPS-observed estimates of prolonged SAP. The crude SNICh estimate was 12.44%, increasing to 40…
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- Emerging infectious diseases (Mpox, Nipah, and Andes): A narrative review of transmission, environmental survival, and disinfection. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S88-S100.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Rapid identification of patients with known or suspected infections of these emerging viruses coupled with adherence to infection prevention recommendations will prevent healthcare-associated transmission.
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- Disinfection and sterilization: Current issues, new research, and new technology. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S79-S87.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: In general, these advancements via guidelines, research, and technology, which guide appropriate use of disinfectants and sterilization technologies and offer promising solutions to minimize patient risk by increasing the margin of safety with medical device reprocessing and surface decontamination by automation, sterilization, or environmental control.
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- Effectiveness of endoscope processing: An update. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S70-S78.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: To improve processing outcomes and reduce the risk of patient exposures and infections, routine audits and quality assurance steps including cleaning verification tests and visual inspection, are needed. Sterilization may offer a greater margin-of-safety than high-level disinfection because it is capable of a larger reduction in microbial load, utilizes automated systems, has embedded quality indicators, and provides an endoscope that is packaged and protected from contamination.
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- Monitoring and improving the effectiveness of cleaning medical and surgical devices: A practical verification framework. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S66-S69.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: A structured monitoring strategy paired with competency assessment, equipment monitoring, and data-driven quality improvement reduces reliance on assumption and strengthens defensible practice. Infection preventionists are essential bridges between clinical and technical departments, integrating data into quality management systems to improve cleaning reliability and patient safety.
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- Microbial assessment of recontamination with multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter in patient room environment in a burn unit. [Journal Article]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S63-S65.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that recontamination with Acinetobacter occurred rapidly at environmental sites in burn units even after cleaning/disinfection and underscored the need for enhanced environmental cleaning, including continuous disinfection methods, to prevent transmission of health care-associated pathogens.
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- Myths and facts: What is the evidence for routine environmental sampling---A commentary. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S56-S62.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Health care facilities should only perform routine microbiological sampling of the environment when recommended by guidelines.
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- Updates to instrument processing standards and guidelines: Practical implications for sterile processing, endoscopy, and infection prevention programs. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S53-S55.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Infection prevention programs can reduce risk by keeping policies aligned with current standards, validating staff competency, and using targeted audits with simple data trending to monitor adherence over time. This review focuses on high-impact updates and practical implementation considerations; it is not an exhaustive review of all available guidance.
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- Comparative analysis of four hospital cleaning validation methods. [Journal Article]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S48-S52.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: The fluorescent marker was the most useful tool in determining the cleanliness of hospital surfaces by demonstrating how thoroughly a surface was wiped as it mimicked the microbiological data better than ATP.
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- New developments in cleaning and disinfection of portable equipment. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S42-S47.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Portable equipment and other shared devices contribute to dissemination of health care-associated pathogens. Health care facilities should develop strategies to ensure effective cleaning and disinfection of shared portable devices.
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- Disinfection, sterilization, and antisepsis: An overview and update. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S4-S12.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Faithful and appropriate use of disinfectants, decontamination, and sterilization technologies can now prevent virtually all infections associated with the environmental surfaces and reusable medical and surgical devices. Antiseptics are crucial in health care for preventing infections by reducing healthcare pathogens on hands before and after patient contact and skin preparation before invasive procedures.
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- Carbon dioxide monitoring and other practical tools to investigate infection prevention issues associated with heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems: You can't improve what you don't measure. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S34-S41.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: Several practical tools are available to assess ventilation and patterns of airflow. These tools can be used to develop effective interventions to reduce the risk for airborne transmission of pathogens.
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- In search of the holy grail of environmental cleaning and disinfection: Effective and safe continuous air and surface disinfection technologies. [Review]Am J Infect Control. 2026 Sep; 54(9S):S25-S33.AJ
- CONCLUSIONS: There are several promising candidate technologies that could provide continuous or intermittent low-level disinfection of air and surfaces in health care settings.
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