PICNet Newsletter – March 2024

Exciting Opportunity: Join Our Team as a Senior Practice Leader!

Are you a visionary, a trailblazer, and a master of your craft? We’re thrilled to announce that we’re recruiting for a full-time permanent Senior Practice Leader to join our dynamic team! If you or someone you know is interested, check the PICNet website for the posting. 

Thank you, Dr. Linda Hoang, Provincial Medical Co-Director, PICNet

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Dr. Linda Hoang for all her contributions to PICNet. After nearly a decade as Provincial Medical Co-director at PICNet, Dr. Hoang stepped down from her official medical co-director position within the program in December 2023. While we feel a sense of loss due to her departure, we are equally thrilled for her as she embarks on a new chapter in a provincial leadership role as the Medical Director of the BC Centre for Disease Control Provincial Health Laboratory. We wish her continued success and fulfillment in her new leadership journey! 

Please check the PICNet website for the full announcement.

Increased Measles Activity

There has been increased global measles activity, including within some Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions. Check out the PICNet website for further information and infection prevention and control (IPC) recommendations in health care settings.

Provincial Infection Prevention and Control Steering Committee (PIPSC)

In January 2024, PICNet convened a Provincial Infection Prevention and Control Steering Committee (PIPSC) [akin to the former PICNet Scientific Operations Advisory Committee]. Gathering together afforded an opportunity to engage with key partners outside of the provincial COVID-19 IPC/WHS provincial working group. We brought together IPC leadership from the Health Authorities and Ministry of Health, along with representation from BCCDC Public Health, Workplace Health and Safety, IPC Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Stewardship. Members shared their provincial IPC priorities and needs and PICNet introduced a provincial CPO action plan underway. Updated/new provincial additional precautions signs were also proposed, and questions have been addressed by PICNet for discussion at the April meeting.

Revised Surveillance Protocol for Carbapenemase-Producting Organisms (CPO) & Candida auris (C. auris) in British Columbia

Following decisions and actions stemming from a symposium hosted by PICNet in Vancouver on CPO and C. auris on July 27, 2023, a revised Surveillance Protocol for CPO & C. auris was uploaded to PICNet’s website in January 2024. Revisions include modifications to CPO screening criteria to reflect current practice, enhancements to the CPO case report form including the addition of C. auris. PICNet’s Surveillance Working Group is currently working on standardized definitions of health-care-associated CPO infections and cluster/outbreaks.

Carbapenemase Producing Organisms (CPO) Needs Assessment Survey

PICNet is in the process of updating the provincial Toolkit for the Management of Carbapenemase Producing Organisms (CPO) and knowledge translation resources. As part of this effort, next month we will be inviting our health authority IPC programs to complete a survey aimed at gaining insights into current practices and needs related to the management and prevention of health care-associated CPO transmission. Collaboration with health authority IPC programs is key for achieving best practices across the province to prevent the transmission of CPO in health-care settings.

PICNet’s Quarterly Surveillance Reports

PICNet’s Q1 2023/24 Surveillance report was posted in January and the Q2 2023/24 Surveillance report was recently posted in March.