Dive Brief:
- CDC awarded a total of $11 million to six academic institutions to become CDC Prevention Epicenters in effort to prevent the spread of infectious diseases in healthcare facilities.
- The six centers join five existing epicenters with the goal to help doctors and nurses protect the health and safety of their patients as well as each other.
- “It can be difficult and challenging to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases in healthcare facilities,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, MD, MPH, in a prepared statement. “To protect Americans, it’s critical that we develop the cutting edge science needed to stay ahead of the germs.”
Dive Insight:
The additional institutions funded from 2015 to 2018 are:
- Emory University;
- Johns Hopkins University;
- University of Illinois, Chicago;
- University of Iowa;
- University of Maryland, Baltimore; and
- University of Utah.
In addition to attempting to prevent the spread of diseases in healthcare facilities, the epicenters will focus on projects to:
- Evaluate personal protective equipment best practices; and
- Study approaches to minimizing the role of the healthcare environment in germ transmission.