About 24% of teachers say they have been told to limit classroom conversations about political and social issues, such as racism, according to a recent survey. The nationally representative survey was taken by over 3,800 teachers and principals by the RAND Corporation in January of 2022 to gauge educator’s views on politicized topics in schooling. In the survey, 54% of teachers and principals urged no legal limits on classroom conversations about racism, sexism, and other topics that some people disagree about. “In a time when simply carrying out the essential functions of their jobs is a herculean task, educators have been faced with the additional challenge of addressing contentious, politicized topics in their schools and classrooms,” according to the report. How does ...
Respirators are a common type of personal protective equipment (PPE) – but not the only one. Gowns, gloves, goggles, and face shields are other kinds of PPE that Latino and all frontline healthcare workers use to help the spread of germs and viruses, including the virus that causes COVID-19.
Gowns
In healthcare, gowns are worn over your work clothes to reduce transmission of germs. They make it easier to remove germs and body fluids that might get on you while you work. “Germs that get on your clothes can spread to you. But they can also spread to other surfaces and other people,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series. ...
COVID-19 is not over, especially for Latinos. To help people stay vigilant in stopping the spread, the CDC recently published an updated Summary of Guidance for Minimizing the Impact of COVID-19 on Individual Persons, Communities, and Health Care Systems. “To prevent medically significant COVID-19 illness and death, persons must understand their risk, take steps to protect themselves and others with vaccines, therapeutics, and nonpharmaceutical interventions when needed, receive testing and wear masks when exposed, receive testing if symptomatic, and isolate for [greater than or equal to] 5 days if infected,” the CDC reported on Aug. 11, 2022. Vaccines and Therapeutics to Reduce Medically Significant Illness The CDC recommends a strategic approach to minimize the impact ...
Infection control saves lives, and every frontline healthcare worker plays a critical role. To better support healthcare workers to prevent infections in health care, it is essential to equip them with the infection control knowledge they need and deserve to protect themselves and their patients from infectious disease threats, like COVID-19. This is why CDC launched Project Firstline, an infection control training and education collaborative designed with healthcare workers, for healthcare workers. Project Firstline intends to provide equity of understanding for all: nurses, certified nursing assistants, environmental service technicians, doctors, allied health professionals, and administrative/intake staff. The innovative content is designed so that regardless of previous ...
We all know that some viruses make us sick, like norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea; rhinovirus, which causes the common cold; and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. But how do these viruses make us sick? What happens when a virus gets into the body? Our bodies are made up of billions of microscopic building blocks, called cells. On the outside of our cells, there are tiny parts that stick out. Those tiny parts are made of proteins that act like a lock on a door. If you have the right “key” for the “lock,” then you can get into the cell. Some virus cells can have tiny parts that stick out on their outsides, too. Those tiny parts can work like a “false key” that can fit the “lock” to some types of our bodies’ cells. It’s not an exact ...
Ventilation is the movement of air in and out of spaces. Good ventilation can help remove things from the air that we don’t want to breathe in, such as chemicals and dust – and small virus particles released by someone who is infected with a respiratory virus, like SARS-CoV-2. “The fewer virus particles in the air, the less likely you are to breathe them in, or that the virus particles will land on your eyes or a surface that you might touch,” said Dr. Abigail Carlson, an infectious diseases physician with the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), as part of CDC Project Firstline’s Inside Infection Control video series.
The Importance of Air Changes
Good ventilation involves air changes, which means that the air in a room is replaced with new or filtered ...
COVID-19. Flu. Hepatitis. Measles. Mumps. Polio. We face many health threats in life, but we have an important tool – vaccines – to protect ourselves against these and other serious diseases. Who should get vaccines? For which diseases? And when? And why do some groups, like Latinos, face vaccine barriers in access and uptake? Let’s use #SaludTues on Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022, to explore the availability of vaccines and how we can promote equitable access to and uptake among Latinos and other people of color, in celebration of National Immunization Awareness Month in August. WHAT: #SaludTues: Get Your Vaccines!
TIME/DATE: 1-2 p.m. EST (Noon-1 p.m. CST), Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2022
WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues
HOST: @SaludAmerica
CO-HOSTS: U.S. Dept. of ...
Big news for Latino parents – the Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for children between ages 6 months and 5 years. The CDC now recommends everyone 6 months or older to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Those 5 years of age and older are also recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster, if eligible. “Many parents, caregivers and clinicians have been waiting for a vaccine for younger children and this action will help protect those down to 6 months of age. As we have seen with older age groups, we expect that the vaccines for younger children will provide protection from the most severe outcomes of COVID-19, such as hospitalization and death,” said FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert M. Califf in a press release. With this recent update, it ...
A respirator keeps you from breathing in particles in the air that might hurt you, like germs, dust, and chemicals. In healthcare, we use respirators when we think we’re going to be in a situation when we could breathe in air that’s carrying infectious particles – like viruses.
Air-Purifying Respirators
There are different types of respirators available in healthcare. Air-purifying respirators work by using filters, or canisters or cartridges, to remove dangerous things from the air that you could breathe in. There are many types of air-purifying respirators. Healthcare workers often use a filtering facepiece respirator (FFR), which fit snugly against the face and cover the mouth and nose. The most common type of FFR used in healthcare is the N95 respirator – more ...
