The Trump administration has terminated a federal advisory group that points suggestions to US well being companies to assist forestall the unfold of infectious illnesses in healthcare amenities.
Based on reporting by NBC Information, members of the Healthcare An infection Management Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) had been knowledgeable of the termination final week in a letter from the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC). HICPAC is considered one of a number of federal advisory teams which have been terminated since President Donald Trump issued an govt order in February aimed toward lowering the federal paperwork.
HICPAC consists of 14 voting non-federal worker members who’re chosen by the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS) secretary and have experience in infectious illnesses, an infection prevention and management, healthcare epidemiology, nursing, public well being, and different areas of well being and drugs. The group meets as much as eight occasions 12 months on the CDC headquarters in Atlanta. The conferences are open to the general public.
Established in 1991, HICPAC has been answerable for crafting and reviewing steerage on a bunch of an infection management and prevention protocols utilized by US healthcare amenities to guard sufferers and healthcare employees from infectious illnesses. Over its greater than three a long time of existence, HICPAC has issued evidence-based suggestions to the CDC on commonplace precautions for affected person care (together with hand hygiene and use of non-public protecting gear), isolation of sick sufferers, environmental an infection management, disease-specific care, and most well-liked strategies of cleansing and disinfecting medical units.
HICPAC had been scheduled to satisfy on March 6 and seven, however the assembly was postponed. HHS didn’t reply to an electronic mail searching for affirmation of the information.
An infection prevention teams voice their considerations
Whereas HICPAC tips aren’t legally binding, they’re routinely adopted by the CDC and play a big position in setting the requirements which are broadly adopted in US hospitals, physician’s and dentist workplaces, ambulatory surgical procedure facilities, nursing houses, and different healthcare settings.
“It has been a powerhouse in creating steerage to maintain us and our sufferers protected within the hospital,” Alex Sundermann, DrPH, an assistant professor of epidemiology on the College of Pittsburgh, wrote not too long ago in Medpage Right now amid rumors that the group is perhaps on the chopping block. “Frontline clinicians, an infection preventionists, nurses, and hospital high quality groups depend on HICPAC steerage each day. Its suggestions form the protocols used to stop device-related infections, reply to rising outbreaks, and meet regulatory and accreditation necessities.”
However the committee hasn’t been with out its critics. Most not too long ago, HICPAC’s draft proposal in 2023 to replace the CDC’s 2007 isolation precaution tips was broadly criticized for suggesting that surgical masks are as efficient as respirators for stopping airborne pathogens like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. A letter signed by greater than 900 public well being consultants warned that the proposed tips may weaken protections for healthcare employees uncovered to infectious aerosols.
The absence of this committee’s steerage creates a big void within the subject, fosters uncertainty amongst healthcare amenities, and places sufferers in danger.
Nonetheless, a number of skilled societies representing the infectious illnesses and an infection prevention group protested the termination, saying in a joint assertion yesterday that disbanding the group will jeopardize a long time of progress in stopping healthcare-associated infections.
“The choice to terminate HICPAC creates a preventable hole in nationwide preparedness and response capability, leaving healthcare amenities with out well timed, evidence-based and expert-driven suggestions at a time when threats from rising pathogens and antimicrobial resistance are on the rise,” the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, Infectious Ailments Society of America, the Affiliation for Professionals in An infection Management and Epidemiology, and the Pediatric Infectious Ailments Society mentioned.
“The absence of this committee’s steerage creates a big void within the subject, fosters uncertainty amongst healthcare amenities, and places sufferers in danger.”
