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During the COVID-19 pandemic, public health authorities have encouraged the use of face masks to minimize transmission within the community. To assess mask wear during a COVID-19 surge and guide public health response efforts, including public messaging on mask recommendations, we compared observed mask use in the largest city in each of Idaho's 2 most populous counties, both without a current mask mandate. We recorded mask usage by every third person exiting stores of 5 retail chains in Boise and Nampa during November 8–December 5, 2021. Observations were conducted during three time periods (morning, afternoon, and evening) on weekday and weekend days. A multivariable model with city, retail chain, and city-chain interaction was used to assess mask wear differences by city for each chain. Of 3021 observed persons, 22.0% wore masks. In Boise, 31.3% (430/1376) of observed persons wore masks; in Nampa, 14.3% (236/1645) wore masks. Among all persons wearing masks, > 94% wore masks correctly; cloth and surgical masks were most common. By retail chain, observed individuals at Boise locations were 2.3–5.7 times as likely to wear masks than persons at respective Nampa locations. This study provided a rapid, nonconfrontational assessment of public use of mitigation measures in 2 Idaho cities during a COVID-19 surge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: We compared mpox vaccination access between urban and rural residents who received ≥1 JYNNEOS dose using immunization data in Idaho and New Mexico. Rural residents traveled 5 times farther and 3 times longer than urban residents to receive mpox vaccination. Increasing mpox vaccine availability to health care facilities might increase uptake., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest and Sources of Funding: None of the listed authors have any conflicts of interest to report or funding to declare regarding this manuscript or its findings., (Copyright © 2023 American Sexually Transmitted Diseases Association. All rights reserved.)

Treatment of carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CP-CRPA) infections is challenging because of antibiotic resistance. CP-CRPA infections are highly transmissible in health care settings because they can spread from person to person and from environmental sources such as sink drains and toilets. During September 2021-January 2022, an Idaho hospital (hospital A) isolated CP-CRPA from sputum of two patients who stayed in the same intensive care unit (ICU) room (room X), 4 months apart. Both isolates had active-on-imipenem metallo-beta-lactamase (IMP) carbapenemase gene type 84 (bla IMP-84 ) and were characterized as multilocus sequence type 235 (ST235). A health care-associated infections team from the Idaho Division of Public Health visited hospital A during March 21-22, 2022, to discuss the cluster investigation with hospital A staff members and to collect environmental samples. CP-CRPA ST235 with bla IMP-84 was isolated from swab samples of one sink in room X, suggesting it was the likely environmental source of transmission. Recommended prevention and control measures included application of drain biofilm disinfectant, screening of future patients who stay in room X (e.g., the next 10 occupants) upon reopening, and continuing submission of carbapenem-resistant P. aeruginosa (CRPA) isolates to public health laboratories. Repeat environmental sampling did not detect any CRPA. As of December 2022, no additional CP-CRPA isolates had been reported by hospital A. Collaboration between health care facilities and public health agencies, including testing of CRPA isolates for carbapenemase genes and implementation of sink hygiene interventions, was critical in the identification of and response to this CP-CRPA cluster in a health care setting., Competing Interests: All authors have completed and submitted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors form for disclosure of potential conflicts of interest. No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.