NETEC Webinar and Podcasts: The Hidden Cost of COVID + FLURONA

Posted in COVID-19, Senior Living

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP
Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare

I’m a big fan/follower of NETEC (National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center), especially these past 2+ years. If you haven’t heard of them, attended a webinar or listened to their podcasts, I encourage you to do so – you’ll learn a lot. Provide your Infection Preventionist(s) with this resource as well.

Here are 2 podcasts to get you started:

  • The Hidden Cost of COVID … It’s episode #13 in their COVID-19 series. It’s just a tad over 55 minutes in length and worth the listen. It’s been available since March 2, 2022.

In the fall of 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) released a report on the impact COVID-19 had on healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in 2020. After a decade of steadily declining HAI numbers, health care facilities across the country experienced a dramatic increase in the number of reported healthcare-associated infections during the first year of the pandemic. The impact of this report has been widespread and highlights the need for health care facilities across the country to return to conventional infection prevention and control practices and build resiliency in these programs to withstand future pandemics.

Flurona! What is it? Is it real? Is it the next superbug? Can someone be infected with the flu and COVID-19 at the same time? The term ‘flurona’ has been making the rounds in the news recently and has caused some confusion. The discussion will touch on the impact Flurona has had this influenza season, current recombination events in the news, the future of respiratory virus season, and steps the healthcare community can take to help mitigate the impact of flurona during the ongoing pandemic.

Review NETEC’s 2021 Annual Report here. Their landing/home page is found here. It has a veritable wealth of resources. This is definitely a website that your IP(s) will want to bookmark and reference often.

The National Emerging Special Pathogens Training and Education Center (NETEC) is comprised of faculty and staff from Emory University, the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Nebraska Medicine, and NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue. All three of these health care institutions have safely and successfully treated patients with COVID19 and Ebola. All work diligently to share their knowledge with health care, EMS, and public health personnel through regular consultations, education, and research. NETEC works closely with the 10 U.S. Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTCs),* the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance special pathogen readiness.

* RESPTC is a designation of HHS.

Lastly, I want to make you aware of their next webinar (I have a seat – I don’t miss their webinars):

Identify, Isolate, Inform. The I’s have it.

Join (NETEC) Friday, April 1st, at 12 pm CST for the NETEC webinar presentation: Identify, Isolate, Inform. The I’s Have It. Topics will include the importance of early recognition in identifying individuals potentially infected with a special pathogen, steps that can be taken to reduce special pathogen exposure to others and the environment, and tips on organizing a notification system applicable to both a home institution and the public health system.

CNE and CME continuing education credits will be provided for this activity. Yet another bonus for your IP(s)!

Register here to secure your seat.