Time Sensitive: Add your Name for Infection Control
Sign Letter to CDC director Mandy Cohen on Healthcare Infection Control
Public health professionals, aerosol scientists, healthcare and public service professionals, please join us in signing this letter by Monday July 17 to CDC director Mandy Cohen.
The letter - initiated by National Nurses United (NNU) - expresses deep concerns with the CDC HICPAC’s (Healthcare Infection Control Advisory Committee) draft proposals for updated guidelines on Isolation Precautions for Health Care Settings. From what we understand, the HICPAC proposal include weakened recommendations on ventilation, respiratory protection and isolation protocols. The proposal ignores the science of airborne virus transmission, and would weaken protections for health care workers and patients alike.
As NNU’s letter tells us: “The proposed guidelines are actually worse than current Isolation protection guidelines including current protection guidelines for COVID-19. Specifically, they propose healthcare workers use only surgical masks, instead of fit-tested N95 respirators or better, for ‘seasonal viruses’ including seasonal influenza and seasonal coronaviruses. Some have indicated that they think SARS-CoV-2 should now be considered a seasonal virus. They do not reccomend any additional isolation or ventilation precautions.”
Further, the HICPAC's process lacks transparency and public input. Their decisions are made behind closed doors primarily by infection control clinicians and healthcare executives. While People’s CDC members showed up and gave public comment at their Jun 8-9 meeting, alongside representatives from healthcare unions and patient advocates from across the country, public comment was scheduled after the committee had already voted. We only have access to a barebones powerpoint from HICPAC’s last meeting on June 8-9 2023, which outlines the proposed changes.
We must fight these changes and demand transparency and accountability. We are calling on the CDC to open up the process to seek the views and knowledge of experts and stakeholders who have critical expertise, experience and perspectives to provide. We want the guidelines to reflect all we have learned about aerosol transmission of infectious diseases and recommend strong and comprehensive measures to prevent inhalation exposure and transmission.
For more information, see this full backgrounder on the HICPAC proposed changes here.
Join us and experts from healthcare and occupational health and safety in urging the new CDC Director, Dr. Mandy Cohen, to involve the public and especially health and safety experts, patient groups and disability advocates.
Please see more details below from the initial communication from NNU and affiliates. More more information, see also the full backgrounder, attached here
“HICPAC (the CDC Healthcare Infection Control Advisory Committee) has created a working group to update the Isolation Precaution guidelines controlling the transmission of infectious pathogens in health care settings. The process is closed with only Infectious Disease professionals, and hospital management representatives involved. The committee has no one with expertise on aerosol transmission, ventilation and respiratory protection and they have not reached out to or involved these experts. The Working Group meetings are closed, and they have shared almost no information with the public. No drafts of guidelines or reccomendations have been shared.
The only information that is publicly available is a powerpoint presentation from the last HICPAC meeting on June 8-9. The powerpoint includes an barebones draft recommendations which are really troubling.
HICPAC is proposing to change the terminology on categories of transmission (from contact/droplet/airborne) to two categories "air" and "touch". Air includes the former "droplet" and "aerosol" categories. But despite the change in terminology, they are not actually strengthening recommendations for protections or control measures.
The proposed guidelines are actually worse than current Isolation protection guidelines and the guidelines for COVID-19. Specifically, they propose healthcare workers should use only surgical masks, instead of fit-tested N95 respirators or better, for "seasonal viruses" including seasonal influenza and seasonal coronaviruses. Some have indicated that they think SARS-CoV-2 should now be considered a seasonal virus. They do not reccomend any additional isolation or ventilation precautions.
They are on a fast track and want the full HICPAC to approve the recommendations to CDC at the upcoming HICPAC meeting in August.”