Join the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control as we discuss the basics of norovirus with Dr. Marilyn Bulloch from Auburn University’s Harrison College of Pharmacy. We will cover symptoms, if it's contagious, where people usually encounter this virus, and more. Thank you to our co-sponsor for this podcast, the Alabama Public Health Training Network at the Alabama Department of Public Health a community-based training partner of the Region IV Public Health Training Center.

As Alabama heats up into summer the number of individuals outside and the number of bugs outside are increasing, including ticks, insects that can pose a direct to human health. Join the ARC IPC and Dr. Jonathan Rayner for a discussion around tick-borne diseases in Alabama and how you can prevent being affected by ticks this summer.

Dr. Elliot Lefkowitz joins us for a podcast to talk about Mpox, the Monkey Pox Virus, and how genetic mutations affects not only the effectiveness of viruses but how they are named and how scientists reach these conclusions. 

This podcast is presented by the Alabama Regional Center for Infection Prevention and Control Training and Technical Assistance. Thank you to our co-sponsor for this podcast, the Alabama Public Health Training Network at the Alabama Department of Public Health a community-based training partner of the Region IV Public Health Training Center.

There are many components of an effective infection prevention and control program. The IPC risk assessment is the starting point for creating an IPC program. A risk assessment is used to identify important infection control issues in your organization and determine goals to include in your infection prevention and control plan. Per The Joint Commission, an annual infection prevention and control (IPC) risk assessment is required to define programmatic goals and objectives and to provide a framework for identifying gaps in services, safety or data as well as tracking progress in meeting specific goals. Today, we are joined by Janet Chance, Director of Infection Prevention, Accreditation, Quality at Cullman Regional Medical Center, and Meredith Lutz, Chief Quality Officer, Medical West Hospital Authority, to discuss risk assessment and planning for infection prevention and control specialists.

Dr. David Kimberlin, Professor and Co-Director of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, joined the podcast to discuss COVID-19 in pediatric patients, how to keep children safe from the Delta variant and to answer questions about COVID-19 vaccines for children. 

Thank you to our co-sponsor for this podcast, the Alabama Public Health Training Network (https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/ALPHTN/) at the Alabama Department of Public Health https://www.alabamapublichealth.gov/index.html), a community-based training partner of the Region IV Public Health Training Center (https://r4phtc.org).