Member action needed: July 17 deadline to affect infection control practice changes

I want to call your attention to a pressing matter that will have broad impact on infection control practices and health care worker protections across all healthcare settings in the country. The CDC's Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) has initiated work to update the CDC's 2007 Isolation Precautions guidance, which is relied on by health care facilities and government agencies to determine infectious disease protections for health care workers. Only barebones information has been shared by HICPAC at its public meetings. But the limited information available shows that the draft review and recommendations ignore science on aerosol transmission and would weaken existing recommendations on ventilation, respiratory protection, and other issues (more details here). These updated guidelines are on a very fast track.HICPAC is set to vote to finalize and adopt these problematic proposals at their August 2023 meeting.

 

HICPAC has failed to seek and gain input from the range of experts who should weigh in during the development process to update these guidelines. HICPAC members and liaisons are primarily infection control clinicians and health care association representatives. As experts in occupational health, industrial hygiene, aerosol science, ventilation, engineering, respiratory protection, and other affiliated fields, our expertise is essential to updating infection control guidance, but CDC/HICPAC has failed to engage us in the process.

 

Will you sign the letter to new CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen? As experts, we are urging Dr. Cohen to make HICPAC’s process more transparent and to engage the necessary range of experts to establish scientifically sound guidance before HICPAC votes on final recommendations . Links to the letter and a longer background document on the draft guidelines are below.

 

The deadline to sign on is July 17. Because the CDC/HICPAC is on such an accelerated timeline, time is of the essence.

Sign the letter using this form: https://forms.gle/PSDcP6k34Kmq7Vrg9

Letter full-text here