Position Statements & White Papers
SHEA addresses numerous issues that affect healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). This section contains official SHEA position statements and white papers on key issues.
Policy World Alliance Against Antibiotic Resistance (WAAAR) declaration against antibiotic resistance
SHEA has signed on as a medical society supporting the efforts of WAAAR, a group of 700 individuals from 55 different countries representing all the key stakeholders (physicians, veterinarians, microbiologists, surgeons, pharmacists, nurses, evolutionary biologists, ecologists, environmentalists, patient advocacy groups). The primary goal of WAAAR is to raise awareness about the urgency and magnitude of the antibiotic resistance threat and to promote an international dialogue to assist in effective responses. The Alliance is dedicated to actively promoting antibiotic preservation and to raising awareness among antibiotic prescribers, politicians and policy-makers, patient safety and advocacy groups, the pharmaceutical industry, international health organizations, and the general population. Please read the declaration to find out more about this effort.
Policy Statement on Mandatory Immunization of Health Care Personnel
Joint policy statement of IDSA, the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS) supporting universal immunization of health care personnel by health care employers as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CDC Coalition FY 2014 Budget Request
SHEA is a member of the CDC Coalition, which represents more than 40 organizations committed to strengthening our nation’s prevention programs. The Coalition’s FY 2014 Budget Request urges a funding level of $7.8 billion for CDC programs overall.
Policy Statement on Antimicrobial Stewardship by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), the Infectious Diseases Society of America
Antimicrobial resistance has emerged as a significant healthcare quality and patient safety issue in the twenty-first century that, combined with a rapidly dwindling antimicrobial armamentarium, has resulted in a critical threat to the public health of the United States. Antimicrobial stewardship programs optimize antimicrobial use to achieve the best clinical outcomes while minimizing adverse events and limiting selective pressures that drive the emergence of resistance and may also reduce excessive costs attributable to suboptimal antimicrobial use. Therefore, antimicrobial stewardship must be a fiduciary responsibility for all healthcare institutions across the continuum of care. This position statement of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society of America outlines recommendations for the mandatory implementation of antimicrobial stewardship throughout health care, suggests process and outcome measures to monitor these interventions, and addresses deficiencies in education and research in this field as well as the lack of accurate data on antimicrobial use in the United States.
Antimicrobial Stewardship: A Collaborative Partnership between Infection Preventionists and Healthcare Epidemiologists
Revised SHEA Position Paper: Influenza Vaccination of Healthcare Personnel
In large part, the discussion about the rationale for influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel, the strategies designed to improve influenza vaccination rates in this population, and the recommendations made in the 2005 paper still stand. This position paper notes new evidence released since publication of the 2005 paper and strengthens SHEA’s position on the importance of influenza vaccination of HCP. This document does not discuss vaccine allocation during times of vaccine shortage, because the 2005 SHEA Position Paper still serves as the society’s official statement on that issue. SHEA views influenza vaccination of HCP as a core patient and HCP safety practice with which noncompliance should not be tolerated. Therefore, for the safety of both patients and HCP, SHEA endorses a policy in which annual influenza vaccination is a condition of both initial and continued HCP employment and/or professional privileges.
Date Revised: August 2010, ICHE