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VIPTA Bulletin
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October Event Calendar
Check out the VIPTA Event Calendar for more details and to register for events.
Events in October
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Featured Training Resources
Source: VDH Flu Vaccine Campaign (2026)
Ready Before the Rush: Respiratory Disease Season Resources
Respiratory disease season is on the way. October is a great time to get prevention messages in front of staff, patients, and residents before respiratory illness activity picks up.
Check out the Guidance, Recommendations, & Regulatory Updates section for new respiratory disease season updates. Learn what’s new for sick or exposed healthcare workers and how to prevent the spread of respiratory diseases at your workplace.
Then, grab a few ready-to-use training tools to help your team put prevention into action.
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Start early. Add a reminder to your next staff huddle. Post one in a waiting area.
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Keep it quick. Show a short video at a meeting.
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Mix it up. Share a new message each week. Cover vaccines, healthy habits, symptoms, or treatment.
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Know what’s going around. Check Virginia respiratory disease data. Share key updates with your team.
Start now and keep it simple. You’ll have tools ready when you need them.
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Guidance, Recommendations, & Regulatory Updates |
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Preventing Respiratory Infections in the Workplace (08/28/2026)
- The CDC provides recommendations to help employers prevent and respond to respiratory infections in the workplace through improved ventilation, engineering controls, environmental cleaning and disinfection, and policies that encourage sick employees to stay home.
- These recommendations also emphasize using respiratory illness surveillance data to inform workplace prevention strategies, including masking and remote work, to reduce transmission and protect employee health.
Viral Respiratory Infections (09/11/2026)
- The CDC provides updated recommendations for managing healthcare personnel exposed to or infected with viral respiratory infections, including work restrictions, symptom monitoring, and source control.
- Asymptomatic exposed personnel may continue working with source control through at least five days after their last exposure, while infected personnel should be excluded from work for at least three days and meet additional symptom-based return-to-work criteria, followed by source control through at least day seven.
Conjunctivitis (09/11/2026)
- The CDC recommends excluding healthcare personnel with suspected or confirmed infectious conjunctivitis, including epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), from work for the duration of their symptoms.
- These recommendations emphasize strict hand hygiene, appropriate cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and shared medical equipment, and prompt identification and management of cases to prevent transmission and healthcare-associated outbreaks.
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Cheers for Peers
EMS Infection Prevention Training Participants
EMS Infection Prevention Training: Expanding Education Across Virginia
Infection prevention is an important part of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) practice. However, many agencies have relaxed some infection control practices since the COVID-19 pandemic. To help address this need, David Keeler of the Tidewater EMS Council has added infection prevention training to their annual and quarterly EMS education programs.
David partnered with Ginger Vanhoozer from the Virginia Department of Health to provide training for EMS professionals. Topics included everyday infection prevention practices, new infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance, MRSA, and other drug-resistant organisms. The sessions brought the topic to life with hands-on activities, including glow-in-the-dark demonstrations that showed how contamination can spread. These activities helped make the information easy to understand and remember.
The response from participants has been extremely positive. Attendees reported a 100% satisfaction rating and asked for more training opportunities, including additional foundational infection prevention education opportunities. By strengthening their infection prevention knowledge, EMS professionals can better protect themselves, their patients, and their communities.
Regional EMS councils throughout Virginia offer a great way to bring infection prevention information to providers.
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How can I get involved with EMS education in my area?
To bring similar trainings to your area, contact your local EMS council to learn more. These councils can help organize educational events, connect EMS and healthcare partners, and support infection prevention efforts in their communities.
By working together, infection preventionists and EMS professionals can strengthen infection prevention practices across Virginia.
Find your EMS region and connect with your local EMS council.
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Search the VIPTA library of curated infection prevention and control (IPC) education and training resources. The IPC Education & Training Resource Library includes state and national resources related to healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial resistance and/or IPC. |
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