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Antimicrobial Resistance (AR) | Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI)
Virginia Department of Health (VDH) | United States (U.S.)
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) |
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Great news; our newsletter has undergone a transformation! We now have a new design, name, and narrowed scope. We are excited to present the HAI & AR Navigator, which aims to provide regular updates to healthcare and public health professionals in Virginia with a focus on HAI, AR, infection prevention & control, and antimicrobial stewardship related information. |
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Hot Topics
On April 21, 2023 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued Risk of Protection Failure with Certain O&M Halyard Surgical N95 Respirators, Surgical Masks, and Pediatric Face Masks: FDA Safety Communication. The communication includes updated recommendations to not use the O&M Halyard FLUIDSHIELD Surgical N95 Respirator Masks, Orange (Regular), Level 3, (Model 46727) for respiratory protection when fluid barrier protection against splashes, sprays, or splatter is needed, such as in the surgical settings where exposure to liquid, bodily or other hazardous fluids may occur.
Post-Operative Infections among Gluteal Augmentation Patients
The CDC is investigating infections among patients that underwent gluteal augmentation, commonly known as Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) procedures, in the U.S. between January 1, 2022, to the present. CDC is aware of a cluster of post-operative infections following BBL procedures from Florida, but the national scope of infectious complications associated with these procedures is less clear. Patients may often travel across state lines to undergo cosmetic procedures such as BBL, making outbreaks of postsurgical infections among patients residing in multiple states challenging to detect. Therefore, CDC requests that healthcare providers notify their local health department of infections following BBL procedures performed in any state during this timeframe.
Marburg Virus Disease
On April 6th, CDC released a Health Advisory to inform clinicians and public health departments in the U.S. about two confirmed outbreaks of Marburg virus disease (MVD) in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania. The Health Advisory provides information about these outbreaks to increase awareness of the risk of imported cases in the U.S. It also summarizes CDC’s recommendations for case identification, infection prevention and control, testing, and clinical laboratory biosafety considerations.
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Healthcare facilities should be aware of CDC guidance and assess patients for the possibility of viral hemorrhagic fevers (including MVD or Ebola disease) through a triage and evaluation process, including a detailed travel history.
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If a suspected case of MVD is identified, in addition to notifying your infection control team and local health department:
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Immediately isolate the patient in a private room with a private bathroom and implement infection control measures, including wearing appropriate PPE, limiting personnel who enter the room, and using dedicated equipment.
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Procedures that increase the risk of contamination with infectious material (e.g., use of needles/sharps, aerosol-generating) should be avoided. Current CDC infection prevention and control recommendations are the same as for Ebola virus disease (EVD) persons under investigation.
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News in Virginia
New VDH HAI/AR Program
The VDH HAI/AR Program would like to extend a warm welcome to Tim LaFountain as our newest infection preventionist covering the Southwest region and Suzanne Capps as our statewide Dialysis Infection Prevention Coordinator. You can visit our webpage to connect with the HAI & AR program members at any time.
Respiratory Diseases
A recent study found that respiratory infections account for around 10% of the global disease burden and are the most common reason for prescribing antibiotics. Early studies conducted during the pandemic found that as many as 70% of COVID-19 patients in some countries received antibiotics, in part because of the lack of other treatments but also because of concerns about bacterial co-infections. The concerns about bacterial co-infection in COVID-19 led to widespread use of antibiotics in hospitals and the community. Lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic suggest that antibiotics can safely be withheld in most patients with viral respiratory infections, and that the fear of bacterial co-infections might have been exaggerated. Reducing the use and duration of in-hospital antibiotic therapy in patients with viral respiratory infections would reduce the risk of side effects from antibiotic exposure and help tackle the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
The VDH TB Program recently updated its guidelines for evaluating individuals for tuberculosis by consolidating and revising two guidance documents into one. The Screening and Testing for Tuberculosis guidance document provides information about evaluating individuals for tuberculosis in a variety of different facilities and settings. Updated TB screening and risk assessment guides are also available for those age six and up and those under age six.
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National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
Upcoming CMS HAI Reporting Deadline
The deadline to enter 2022 Q4 data into NHSN under CMS Quality Reporting Programs for participating acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), and cancer hospitals is May 15, 2023. To ensure your data has been correctly entered into NHSN, please verify that: 1) your monthly reporting plans are complete, 2) you have entered appropriate summary and event data or checked the appropriate no events boxes, and 3) you have cleared all alerts from your NHSN facility homepage. Hospitals that have conferred rights to VDH will be receiving a quality assurance report in May, so please be sure to check your email and acknowledge receipt and review. Please remember to update the VDH HAI/AR Program with any IP contact changes. For additional guidance on ensuring your data are accurately sent to CMS for Quality Reporting purposes, please visit the NHSN website and navigate to the appropriate section(s) for your facility type.
Coming soon – NHSN External Data Validation Project
The VDH HAI/AR Program is seeking data validation specialists that will be positioned in five regions across Virginia to perform NHSN data validation activities. During validation, specialists will assess local surveillance data quality, HAI surveillance data completeness, timeliness, sensitivity and specificity and identify reporter training needs. The main objective of the specialists would be to improve the NHSN surveillance process, resulting in higher quality data for epidemiologic analysis and prevention activities.
If you or someone you know possesses up to date knowledge of NHSN protocols, surveillance methods, and definitions as written; and has experience using REDCap tool, reach out to Mounika.bazar@vdh.virginia.gov to learn more about working on this project.
The revision will apply upon conclusion of the COVID-19 PHE and continue until April 30, 2024, unless the Secretary establishes an earlier ending date.
Two primary changes will be implemented for the COVID-19 hospital data reporting guidance post-public health emergency, in accordance with the CMS CoP cited above:
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Data element reduction - The number of data elements required to be reported to CDC will be reduced from 62 elements to 44 elements.
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Weekly reporting cadence - Reporting cadence will change from a daily requirement to a weekly requirement, with values reported for each day of the previous week (defined as Sunday – Saturday) by the submission deadline of Tuesday.
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Training & Education
Updated MDRO Containment and Prevention Guidance
The VDH HAI/AR Program will be hosting an external webinar focused on Updated MDRO Containment and Prevention Guidance. The webinar will be held on May 5, 2023, from 12:00 – 1:00 PM on Zoom. The objectives of this webinar are to review CDC’s updated Containment Guidance for Novel or Targeted MDROs, discuss CDC’s new Prevention Guidance for Novel or Targeted MDROs, and conduct a question and answer session. Target audience includes infection preventionists from hospitals and nursing homes, IP Leadership, and Directors of Nursing. LHDs are welcome to attend. The webinar will be recorded.
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Infection Prevention Educator Roadshow
Do you educate healthcare workers on infection prevention topics? Would you like more tips and tricks to make your education stick longer? The Infection Prevention Educator Roadshow is hosted by the VDH HAI/AR Program and will be coming to a location near you in summer 2023. There are 10 opportunities to catch this one-day training session using adult learning principles and hands on training techniques. Participants will get a take-home bag of educator tools to practice their new skills right away. Register now for the Infection Prevention Educator Roadshow before spots fill up.
Project Firstline: New Spanish Interactive Resources
Check out the Spanish Resources page on the Project Firstline website for new content, including a new About Project Firstline page, as well as interactive resources for healthcare workers to test their infection control knowledge.
Adult Day Center Infection Prevention Policy Workgroup
LeadingAge Virginia, in partnership with Health Quality Innovators (HQI), received grant funding from the CDC and VDH Office of Epidemiology to develop model infection prevention and control policies for all licensed adult day centers (ADCs) in Virginia. We need your help!
The project team is currently recruiting additional members for the Infection Prevention Policy Development Workgroup. You do not need to be an infection prevention expert to join and to be a valuable member of the team. The process includes collaborating with other ADC representatives to determine the appropriate infection prevention strategies and practices that apply specifically to the ADC's unique setting.
Workgroup meetings are held every Wednesday from 2 to 3 p.m. ET, and participation is flexible. If you're interested in joining, but cannot attend weekly meetings, there are several ways you could contribute to the success of the project: reviewing and submitting edits to policies by email; attending only a few meetings; or committing to the workgroup for one month at a time. Contact Felicity Wood to join!
New CDC Group A Strep
CDC has released new tools to guide effective investigations into group A Streptococcus (GAS) infections in long-term care facilities (LTCFs). Targeted to public health departments and LTCFs, including skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities, the toolkit encourages an investigation into even a single case of invasive GAS infection. The toolkit also offers strategies to ramp up the response if additional cases occur.
APIC Playbooks for Invasive Group A Strep and Polio
The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has published new free “playbooks” for invasive Group A Streptococcus and polio. These playbooks are a central repository of references and resources to support infection preventionists and epidemiologists as they develop their infectious disease prevention and response strategies.
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Making Connections
Clinician letter
This emailed letter is sent to all currently licensed healthcare professionals in the Commonwealth to communicate urgent updates. Access archived letters at Clinician Letters - Clinicians (virginia.gov)
Healthcare Professional Newsletter
This is a subscriber-based newsletter that is emailed monthly, focusing on issues of interest, therapeutics and COVID-19 updates and upcoming activities. Subscribe and access archived newsletters at Healthcare Professional Newsletter - Clinicians (virginia.gov)
Long-Term Care Newsletter
VCU is leading one of the Virginia Long-Term Care infrastructure Pilot Projects. The Virginia Long-Term Care Clinician Network (LTC-CN) brings together medical directors and clinicians practicing in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and other congregate care settings, such as Program of All-inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Registered participants may take part in monthly virtual meetings and will receive the monthly newsletter with essential clinical updates on topics relevant to the long-term care clinical team. Join us and register.
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Awareness Events
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May 5 is World Hand Hygiene Day
This year's World Health Organization’s campaign theme is “together, we can accelerate action to prevent infections and antimicrobial resistance in health care and build a culture of safety and quality in which hand hygiene improvement is given high priority”.
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We want to hear from you!
Connect with us by visiting our website or email us.
We are hiring!
Check out the HAI/AR Program Job Board for current available jobs.
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