Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence after exposures in shared patient rooms in a tertiary-care center in Iowa, July 2020-May 2021.

The incidence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure in shared patient rooms was low at our institution: 1.8 per 1,000 shared-room patient days. However, the secondary attack rate (21.6%) was comparable to that reported in household exposures. Lengthier exposures were associated with SARS-CoV-2 conversion. Hospitals should implement measures to decrease shared-room exposures.

Insertion site inflammation was associated with central-line-associated bloodstream infections at a tertiary-care center, 2015-2018.

There are currently no guidelines for central-line insertion site evaluation. Our study revealed an association between insertion site inflammation (ISI) and the development of central-line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs). Automated surveillance for ISI is feasible and could help prevent CLABSI.

A primer on data visualization in infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship.

Data visualization refers to the techniques used to communicate information by encoding it as visual objects (eg, points, lines, or bars) contained in graphics. The recent acceleration in informatics technology has made it possible to obtain and process large amounts of data. Although data visualization can provide insights from large datasets, it can also help simplify messaging, making information more accessible for healthcare stakeholders. The field of data visualization is constantly evolving, and new techniques are frequently being created. However, evidence regarding the best way to visualize data in the fields of infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship is limited. We provide an overview of data visualization theory and history, as well as recommendations for creating graphs for infection prevention and antimicrobial stewardship.