VDH Recommendations for the Management of Healthcare Personnel Exposed to or Infected with COVID-19 or Seasonal Influenza 

• VDH released a clinician letter on September 30th with updated recommendations for managing healthcare personnel exposed to or infected with COVID-19 or seasonal influenza.
  • Recommendations were developed in collaboration with stakeholders, based on work from the Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel Workgroup of the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC).
  • Healthcare facilities are encouraged to review the guidance and consider updating their return-to-work and management policies for staff.
  • These recommendations are not regulatory requirements or mandates.
  • Full recommendations are available at VDH Interim Recommendations for the Management of Healthcare Personnel Exposed to or Infected with COVID-19 or Seasonal Influenza.
• For questions, contact hai@vdh.virginia.gov. 

Changes to the Virginia Reportable Disease Regulations 

• Virginia Regulations for Disease Reporting and Control (12VAC5-90) have recently been updated to bring the regulations into compliance with changes in the field of communicable disease detection and control. They also now conform the regulations to Chapter 375 of the 2024 Virginia Acts of Assembly. 
• A summary of the changes was communicated in a clinician letter on September 24th. More information on disease reporting in Virginia can be found on VDH’s Disease Reporting and Control Regulations webpage. 

Upcoming CMS HAI Reporting Deadline 

• Data Submission: Hospitals must submit 2025 Q2 data into NHSN by November 17, 2025, including acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and cancer hospitals. 
• Details: To ensure your data is entered correctly, please verify the following: 
  • Ensure monthly reporting plans are complete. 
  • Confirm correct summary and event data entry or mark appropriate "no events" boxes. 
  • Resolve all alerts on the NHSN facility homepage. 
  • Hospitals with conferred rights to VDH will receive a quality assurance report in November; please check your email and acknowledge receipt and review. 

• Additional Information:  
  • Please update jacqueline.williams@vdh.virginia.gov with any IP contact changes. 
  • For guidance on accurately submitting your data to CMS for Quality Reporting, visit the NHSN website and go to the relevant section for your facility type. 

 NHSN Hemovigilance Module 

• Enroll your facility in the NHSN Hemovigilance Module to support blood safety monitoring. 
• Starting in 2026, CDC will ask facilities to: 
  • Document transfusion history when certain pathogens are identified. The updated module helps CDC quickly detect and track new pathogens spread by blood transfusions. 
  • Report suspected transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) through the NHSN Biovigilance Component. 
  • Reporting is optional and used only for public health purposes. 

VDH HAI/AR Program Wants Your Feedback 

• The VDH HAI/AR Program is evaluating how our quarterly NHSN Cleaning Reports are being used by Virginia’s healthcare facilities.  
  • These reports help facilities check data accuracy before CMS deadlines and the statewide annual report. 
  • Your feedback matters—please complete a short survey (one response per facility). 
  • Questions? Contact hai@vdh.virginia.gov. 

Latest Updates from the VDH HAI/AR Program 

• VDH Infection Prevention Training Power Tools – Check out this toolbox of practical, evidence-based resources for delivering memorable infection prevention trainings. Whether you're leading a quick huddle or a full workshop, these tools are designed to help you engage frontline healthcare workers and strengthen infection prevention practices.   
• Updated VDH HAI/AR Program Infection Prevention Rapid Resources – Need some quick resources on Candida auris or carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs)? Match the available resources to your audience.  
  • C. auris: Prevention for Everybody (essentials level), Healthcare for C. auris (foundations level), Testing for C. auris  
  • CPOs: Prevention for Everybody (essentials level), Testing for CPOs  
• VDH Multidrug-Resistant Organism Prevention Recommendations  
  • Certain healthcare facilities – such as long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) and ventilator-capable skilled nursing facilities (vSNFs) – face a significantly higher risk of MDROs. This makes the implementation of MDRO prevention strategies not just important, but essential. VDH has MDRO prevention recommendations and resources to support these facilities. 
  • If you are vSNF or LTACH, connect with your local health department (LHD) to learn more about how VDH can help you strengthen your infection prevention efforts and protect your patients/residents. 

• An overview of water in healthcare 
• Sinks 
• Drains 
• Ice 

Virginia Healthcare Emergency Management Program (VHEMP)

VHEMP recently hosted a webinar on Regional Emerging Special Pathogen Treatment Centers (RESPTC). Webinar recording and presentation slides are now available.  

✴️ Cuppa Tea with an IP. A weekly live chat with VDH infection preventionists (IPs) and experts to address your infection prevention and control questions. Register once to attend any session as needed.

✴️ 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 letter is emailed to all currently licensed healthcare professionals in the Commonwealth to communicate important updates. Access archived letters at Clinician Letters - Clinicians (virginia.gov). 

✴️ Healthcare Professional Newsletter. Subscribe to HCP monthly newsletter for updates on therapeutics, COVID-19, and upcoming activities. Access it and archives at Healthcare Professional Newsletter - Clinicians (virginia.gov).