APIC 2026: Two Presentations Highlight Personalized Prevention and the Power of Data

APIC 2026: Two Presentations Highlight Personalized Prevention and the Power of Data APIC 2026 presenters Ekaete Usoh, MPH, MSc, CIC, VA-BC, and Risha Patel, MPH, CIC, shared practical strategies for reducing health care-associated infections through health equity, standardized data tracking, and interdisciplinary collaboration while encouraging infection preventionists to take advantage of APIC's educational and networking opportunities. At APIC 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, 2 poster presentations demonstrated that effective infection prevention depends on more than following established protocols. It also requires adapting interventions to individual patient needs and using data to drive timely, collaborative decision-making. Ekaete Usoh, MPH, MSc, CIC, VA-BC, an infection preventionist at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Sunset and member of the Greater Los Angeles APIC Chapter and the APIC Health Equity Committee, presented research exploring health care-associated infection (HAI) prevention bundles through a health equity lens. She presented with other members of the APIC Health Equity Committee, including Krystal Robinson, MPH, CIC, CHIPP(B); Caitlin Sharkey, MPH; Nicole Henry, DrPH, MPH, CIC; and Chrystia Johnson, MSHS, MT(AMT), CIC. The title was From Awareness to Action: A Dialogue About Health Equity in Practice. Her presentation challenged attendees to think beyond simply completing bundle elements and instead consider whether those interventions are equally effective for every patient. "Our patients differ," Usoh said. "Every patient should have the same effect of the bundle." The project does not advocate changing evidence-based bundles. Instead, it encourages infection preventionists and frontline clinicians to consider whether standard interventions are being applied in ways that meet individual patient needs. Usoh shared the example of a patient with dementia who repeatedly pulled at a central line. Although staff documented daily rounds and line necessity assessments according to protocol, the patient's unique condition required additional attention beyond the standard once-per-shift evaluation. "The bundle elements have been shown evidence-based. They