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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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New and Improved Data Dashboards
The VDH HAI/AR program is excited to announce the release of five dashboards of interest to Virginia healthcare professionals. Read below for more details about each dashboard.
1. Candida auris case counts
There has been a rise in C. auris cases in Virginia every year since 2021. The C. auris case counts dashboard provides situational awareness to healthcare professionals and aids in the public health response efforts. The dashboard provides case counts over time, by specimen collection reason, and by Virginia region. The dashboard will be updated monthly and can be viewed on the VDH C. auris webpage.
2. Carbapenemase-producing Organisms (CPO) case counts
Since CPO became reportable in Virginia in 2018, there has been an increase in case incidence. The CPO case counts dashboard provides situational awareness to healthcare professionals and aids in the public health response efforts. The dashboard provides case counts over time, by specimen collection reason, by organism, and by Virginia region. The dashboard will be updated quarterly and can be viewed on the VDH CPO webpage.
3. Antimicrobial stewardship (AS) core elements and priority element summary for acute care hospitals (ACH)
The AS Core Elements and Priority Elements dashboard summarizes survey responses from self- reported implementation of antibiotic stewardship practices among ACH currently enrolled in the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN). The dashboard will track trends for Virginia hospitals meeting the Core and Priority Elements for stewardship programs and allow ACH to benchmark their stewardship activities with other hospitals in the state. The dashboard will be updated annually and can be viewed on the VDH AS Annual Survey Summary webpage.
4. Healthcare-associated infections (HAI) annual report for acute care hospitals (ACH)
The HAI Annual Report for ACH summarizes the performance of Virginia’s hospitals on HAIs and healthcare worker influenza (flu) vaccination. The annual report tracks trends over time from the year 2017-2022 and will be updated annually. The dashboard can be viewed on the VDH NHSN HAI ACH Annual Report webpage.
5. Healthcare-associated infections annual report for long-term acute care hospitals (LTACH)
The HAI Annual Report for LTACH summarizes the performance of Virginia’s LTACH on select HAIs and healthcare worker influenza (flu) vaccination. The annual report tracks trends over time from the year 2016-2022 and will be updated annually. The dashboard can be viewed on the VDH NHSN HAI LTACH Annual Report webpage.
 Hot Topics
CMS Enhanced Barrier Precautions Memo. On March 20th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance for nursing homes on the use of Enhanced Barrier Precautions (EBP) to align with nationally accepted standards. EBP are used in conjunction with standard precautions and expand the use of personal protective equipment to donning gown and gloves during high-contact resident care activities that provide opportunities for transfer of multidrug-resistant organisms to staff hands and clothing.
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza A(H5N1) Virus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture found highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) virus in dairy cattle across states. On April 5th, CDC issued a health alert after a person in Texas tested positive for the virus following exposure to infected cattle, showing conjunctivitis. VDH issued a clinician letter on May 3rd with instructions for Virginia clinicians. A second human case was identified in May in Michigan; additional information is available in a CDC press release. Clinicians should consider HPAI in individuals with relevant exposure history showing respiratory illness or conjunctivitis, report suspected cases to local health department promptly, and follow infection control measures outlined in CDC's Interim Guidelines.
Updated Guidance on Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel. CDC recently revised its guidance document “Epidemiology and Control of Selected Infections Transmitted Among Healthcare Personnel and Patients.” Recommendations include current guidance on the management of exposed or potentially infectious healthcare personnel. New sections available in this March 2024 update include measles, mumps, rubella, varicella, and special populations: pregnant healthcare personnel.
CMS Proposed Rule: Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Policy Changes. As of April 30, 2024, hospitals are no longer required to submit COVID-19 hospital data, including hospital respiratory pathogen, bed capacity, and supply data, to the Department of Health and Human Services through CDC’s NHSN. Due to the significant importance of these data for patient safety and public health, CDC highly recommends that hospitals keep reporting this information through NHSN even after the current mandate ends. The reporting change impacts data sources for two of the VDH COVID-19 dashboards, COVID-19 Hospital Admissions and Hospital Beds In Use. VDH added a disclaimer notice on these impacted dashboards and is monitoring changes in the data source. The change to reporting requirements is NOT applicable to the COVID-19 Vaccination data that are entered into the NHSN Healthcare Personnel Safety Component. A proposed rule from CMS could reinstitute reporting requirements on October 1, 2024. The current proposal includes reporting data elements for confirmed infections of respiratory illnesses, including COVID-19, influenza, and RSV, among hospitalized patients (see CMS Proposed Rule article above for more information).
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News in Virginia
Meningococcal Disease. VDH continues to respond to the ongoing statewide outbreak caused by Neisseria meningitidis serogroup Y. Additionally, cases from a separate strain of ciprofloxacin and penicillin-resistant N. meningitidis serogroup Y continue to be detected in northern Virginia, impacting local post-exposure prophylaxis recommendations in this region. Healthcare providers should remain vigilant for additional cases. Other actions to be taken by clinicians are summarized in a recently issued VDH clinician letter.
Mpox. VDH issued a clinician letter urging providers to be vigilant about sexual histories and recommend JYNNEOS vaccination due to an increase in mpox cases in Virginia. The ongoing Clade I Monkeypox virus (MPXV) outbreak in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) known for its severity, raises concerns. While no Clade I cases are reported in the U.S., readiness is advised. The VDH Mpox Preparedness Checklist offers guidance for healthcare facilities. Visit VDH's mpox webpage for more details. Additionally, waste management guidelines were updated, treating mpox waste as Category B unless contaminated with Clade I virus cultures. Refer to CDC for infection prevention details.
National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
NHSN External Data Validation Project Updates. The VDH HAI/AR program is reviewing and validating surveillance practices for HAIs. The results of the completed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) validation for 2022 have been shared with Virginia hospitals (summary report and a recorded webinar).
Volunteers are needed for validating central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) for 2023. This project is expected to start May 2024.
- Participation is beneficial for CMS survey prep and accuracy in reporting
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Participating facilities will be acknowledged in reports and on the VDH website
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Please complete this form to indicate your willingness to participate in external validation activities
For questions, email the HAI/AR Program at hai@vdh.virginia.gov
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Training & Education
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All new Infection Prevention Educator Roadshow 2024. New year, new lessons, same incredible opportunity! Join us at the Infection Prevention Educator Roadshow 2024 for workplace education principles, hacks to tackle anxiety, and amplify your educator strengths. Attendees will receive complimentary educator tools to immediately apply their learnings.
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Health Ambassador Training. Don’t miss this opportunity to register two individuals from your nursing home for a free regional in-person Health Ambassador Training in Virginia being presented by the Health Quality Innovation Network (HQIN) and Johns Hopkins University. Featuring the Be REAL framework which focuses on building trust by forming relationships, targeting resources responsive to a facility’s population, and always keeping the door open for interactions to improve health outcomes such as immunizations and infection prevention. |
Injection Safety Resources. Need quick resources to help with policy/procedure development or staff education about injection safety? Check out these new documents from VDH:
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Flyer: tips for preparing and administering injections safely
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Policy and procedure templates
Quick Guides for Nursing Home Infection Preventionists. VDH published additional resources for infection preventionists (IPs) in nursing homes (Education, Hand Hygiene, Influenza, Personal Protective Equipment, and Safe Transport & Accepting New Admissions/Readmissions)
Infection Prevention and Control Train-the-Trainer Resources for Assisted Living Facilities and Adult Day Care Centers. The Virginia Department of Social Services, Division of Licensing Programs recently published a train-the-trainer binder of infection prevention and control training resources for frontline staff working in assisted living facilities and adult day care centers. Topics covered include hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, environmental cleaning and disinfection, transmission-based precautions, auditing and monitoring, surveillance, policies and procedures, and more!
APIC Patient Hand Hygiene Toolkit. Need assistance empowering healthcare professionals to promote patient hand hygiene in your healthcare facility? This resource from the Association of Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) includes a toolkit, audit tool, and hand hygiene poster.
Virginia Infection Prevention Training Center.
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Infection Prevention Training Videos: Are you teaching infection prevention and control (IPC) concepts to a new team member or frontline staff? Featuring fun characters and engaging storylines, VIPTC training videos cover IPC topics important for any healthcare professional to know. Check out their latest video, Untold Stories of Urine Specimens to learn more about infection prevention best practices for collecting a urine sample!
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Infection Prevention for Specialty Settings: Looking for infection prevention information tailored to your specific healthcare setting? Check out VIPTC’s latest on-demand courses! Designed to provide comprehensive infection prevention education for specialty settings, these courses are a great tool to help you grow your expertise. New topics include infection prevention strategies for pharmacy, behavioral health, neonatal, and ambulatory surgical centers, plus many more.
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American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Think Measles One-Pager: To assist in controlling the emerging measles outbreaks across the country, the AAP developed a one-pager on measles for use in pediatric clinical settings.
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Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAHF) Translation of Micro-learns into Asian and Pacific Islander Languages: APIAHF has coordinated the translation of CDC’s Project Firstline Micro-Learns into 11 Asian and Pacific Islander languages. View and download these resources today!
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Making Connections
Vitamin IPC. Subscribe to the monthly Vitamin IPC bulletin by VIPTA for essential resources and access to events to enhance frontline healthcare personnel’s infection prevention and control training.
Clinician letter. This emailed letter is sent to all currently licensed healthcare professionals in the Commonwealth to communicate important updates. Access archived letters at Clinician Letters - Clinicians (virginia.gov)
Virginia Long-Term Care Clinician Network (LTC-CN). Join an organized network of medical directors, physicians, and advanced practice providers who work in long-term care facilities and other congregate care settings across Virginia with the purpose of sharing best clinical practices.
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Monthly Newsletter: Receive a monthly newsletter that focuses on updates pertinent to long-term care in Virginia, including infection prevention guidelines, treatment options, and other updates.
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Monthly Forum: Access to monthly virtual forums where issues can be discussed with a group of peers practicing in the same care setting.
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Resources: Access to a central website with free resources.
Cuppa Tea with an IP. Cuppa Tea with an IP is a weekly chance to chat live with a VDH IP and subject matter experts about your infection prevention and control questions. We can’t wait to hear your questions and see how we can help. Register once for the Cuppa Tea with an IP meetings and attend whenever you have questions or need a little IP peer boost.
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We want to hear from you!
Connect with us by visiting our website or email us at hai@vdh.virginia.gov.
Get Updates!
Sign up for news from the HAI/AR Program, including newsletter publications here!
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