American Journal of Infection Control
March 2015 Volume 43, Issue 3, p199-312
http://www.ajicjournal.org/current

Commentary
Nebraska Biocontainment Unit patient discharge and environmental decontamination after Ebola care
Katelyn C. Jelden, Shawn G. Gibbs, Philip W. Smith, Michelle M. Schwedhelm, Peter C. Iwen, Elizabeth L. Beam, A. Kim Hayes, Nedra Marion, Christopher J. Kratochvil, Kathleen C. Boulter, Angela L. Hewlett, John J. Lowe
p203–205
Published online: January 27, 2015
Preview
The Nebraska Biocontainment Unit (NBU), which operates through collaboration of Nebraska Medicine, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, recently treated patients with Ebola virus disease (EVD) evacuated from West Africa to the United States. EVD is transmitted by contact with infected blood or bodily fluids with an infectious dose of <10 viruses and high virus concentrations in blood 108 virus particles/mL.1 Although negative for virus by molecular testing (quantitative polymerase chain reaction [qPCR] assay), discharged NBU patients successfully treated for EVD are at risk of touching EVD contaminated surfaces within the patient room and may serve as a disease vector to areas outside of isolation on discharge from the unit.

Infection prevention and mass vaccination training for U.S. point of dispensing staff and volunteers: A national study
Terri Rebmann, Travis M. Loux, Thomas K. Zink, Zachary Swick, Mary Wakefield
p222–227
Published online: January 27, 2015
Preview
Points of dispensing (PODs) are deployed for medical countermeasure mass dispensing. However, infection prevention and vaccine administration pre-event training offered and just-in-time (JIT) education planned for POD workers have not been assessed.

Employee influenza vaccination in a large cancer center with high baseline compliance rates: Comparison of carrot versus stick approaches
Sara Podczervinski, Zach Stednick, Lois Helbert, Judith Davies, Barbara Jagels, Ted Gooley, Corey Casper, Steven A. Pergam
p228–233
Preview
Influenza is a major complication in patients with cancer and hematopoietic cell transplant recipients. We set out to maximize influenza vaccination rates in health care personnel at our large ambulatory cancer center with high baseline compliance and to assess alternatives to mandatory policies.

Geospatial patterns in influenza vaccination: Evidence from uninsured and publicly insured children in North Carolina
Justin G. Trogdon, Thomas Ahn
p234–240
Published online: January 27, 2015
Highlights
– Our study explores spatial patterns in influenza vaccination among children.
– ZIP codes tend to have influenza vaccination rates similar to neighboring ZIP codes.
– Clustering is partially, but not wholly, explained by area characteristics.
– Spatial targeting of vaccination could reduce the spread of pandemic influenza.
Abstract
Background
The purpose of this study was to explore geospatial patterns in influenza vaccination.
Methods
We conducted an ecological analysis of publicly funded influenza vaccinations at the ZIP code tabulation area (ZCTA) level using secondary data for publicly funded influenza vaccinations among eligible school-aged children (age range, 5-17 years) for the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 influenza seasons from the North Carolina Immunization Registry (NCIR). NCIR data were merged by ZCTA with other publicly available data. We tested for spatial autocorrelation in unadjusted influenza vaccination rates using choropleth maps and Moran’s I. We estimated nonspatial and spatial negative binomial models with spatially correlated random effects adjusted for demographic, economic, and health care variables. The study was conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the spring of 2014.
Results
The NCIR demonstrated spatial autocorrelation in publicly funded influenza vaccinations among uninsured and means-tested, publicly insured school-aged children; ZCTAs tended to have influenza vaccination rates that were similar to their neighbors. This result was partially explained by included ZCTA characteristics, but not wholly.
Conclusion
To the extent that the geospatial clustering of vaccination rates is the result of social influences, targeting interventions to increase influenza vaccination among school-aged children in one area could also lead to increases in neighboring areas.