Virginia Infection Prevention & Control Training Alliance (VIPTA)

VIPTA is a statewide infection prevention and control education collaborative, led by the Virginia Healthcare-Associated Infections Advisory Group.  Through partnership, VIPTA curates IPC resources for Virginia’s healthcare, congregate care, and public health settings.

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Whoop Whoop! New Infection Prevention Playbook for Emergency Medical Services (EMS)

EMS touch all parts of healthcare and play a critical role in the infection prevention landscape. The updated EMS Infectious Disease Playbook condenses essential information into a single, comprehensive resource. It’s designed to assist EMS agencies in developing clear, effective policies that address a wide range of infection prevention topics like dispatch procedures, transmission-based precautions, personal protective equipment, and special considerations in pediatrics and aeromedical transport.  

EMS Infectious Disease Playbook from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 

Ways to Use This Resource 

  • Comprehensive Guidance: Provides streamlined workflows for education tailored to resonate with EMS personnel. 
  • Centralized Resource: Consolidates the latest guidelines from various sources, ensuring EMS professionals have immediate access to current standards. 

Guidance & Regulation Updates

VIPTA members track guidance and regulation resources to share source documents that guide infection prevention and control practices for public health staff and clinical and non-clinical healthcare personnel.

The date of the regulation or guidance update is included in each post.  Please check linked content to be sure it is the most up to date and recommended practice.

Health Update: Prevention Strategies for Mpox, including Vaccinating People at Risk via Sexual Exposure, for U.S. Travelers Visiting Countries with Clade I Mpox Outbreaks (9/23/2024)
CDC
Department of Health
Outbreak Investigation
Surveillance
Provides recommendations for travelers who are going to a country with ongoing human-to-human clade I mpox virus transmission. Provides clinicians and public health practitioners with recommendations to implement during travel health visits to mitigate the risk to travelers visiting countries with ongoing human-to-human clade I mpox virus transmission.
Core Elements of Hospital Diagnostic Excellence Programs (9/11/2024)
CDC
Acute Care Hospital
Antimicrobial & Diagnostic Stewardship
Describes the key framework and actions that can be implemented to improve diagnoses for hospitalized patients. The guidance includes diagnostic stewardship considerations for urine culture and C. difficile tests which align with infection prevention recommendations.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services National Healthcare Safety Network’s (NHSN) Antibiotic Use and Resistance (AUR) Reporting Modules
CMS
Acute Care Hospital
Regulatory Compliance
Surveillance
Eligible acute care and critical access hospitals have two module options for reporting AUR data to the NHSN AUR Module to meet the CMS requirements for calendar year 2024. Find more information about these modules in the NHSN Newsletter and AUR Reporting FAQs on the NHSN website. 
Use of COVID-19 Vaccines in the United States (9/6/2024)
CDC
Any Practice Setting
Vaccination
Recommendations for the use of 2024–2025 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine in people ages 12 years and older  Updated guidance in the Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines section and in Appendix B on completion of an initial vaccination series if vaccine doses from different manufacturers are administered in certain circumstance. 
Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) August Public Meeting Recap (9/3/2024)
CDC
Any Practice Setting
Transmission-Based Precautions
During the August 2024 meeting, the committee provided brief updates from three of HICPAC’s workgroups: Isolation Precautions, Dental Unit Waterlines, and Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel. A recap of the meeting and what was specifically covered can be reviewed on the CDC’s Blog.

What’s In Your Water?

Hayley Andrews, an infection preventionist in the southwest region of Virginia, used her curious mind and a desire to educate others to help uncover environmental contamination that caused an illness in one of her patients.

Hayley’s facility admitted a patient with sepsis, and blood cultures grew Aeromonas hydrophila.  Because Hayley had never heard of this organism, she researched it and learned that it is typically a waterborne organism.  Hayley took this information to the nursing unit where the patient was located and the patient’s son heard her educating the nurses about Aeromonas.  He joined in and mentioned that his mom had a well and he was concerned that it may be contaminated.

The health department visited the home and tested the water. Sure enough, it was contaminated with Aeromonas and other organisms, and failed potability testing. The health department was able to get the patient an alternate, safe water source upon her discharge to prevent further infection until her well water could be remediated. 

Thank you, Hayley! Your diligence prevented this patient from getting sick again, and perhaps prevented other neighbors from a similar outcome! 

IPC Education & Training Library

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. Visit the VIPTA FAQ page to learn more about VIPTA library content.

 

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Last Updated: February 14, 2024