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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Upcoming Events

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Image of healthcare staff taking care of patient in a hospital bed.

Celebrating Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) in June

National Certified Nursing Assistants Week is just around the corner, running from June 13th to June 19th, 2024. Let’s take this opportunity to show our appreciation for the fantastic work our CNAs do every day in healthcare settings across Virginia. To celebrate, we’re shining a spotlight on an awesome infection prevention resource tailored specifically for CNAs.

Project Firstline Training Toolkit for Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)

Ways to Share These Resources

  • This resource covers infection prevention topics in the daily work of CNAs, such as feeding, oral care, bathing, skin/ perineal care, positioning and more.
  • Plus, this training is easy to deliver with recordings of trainings, engaging PowerPoint slides, and fun knowledge checks to keep things interesting.

Target Audience: Foundational IPC education level

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.

H5N1 Bird Flu: Current Situation Summary (5/24/2024)
CDC
Any Practice Setting
Emergency Preparedness & Operations
Surveillance
H5 bird flu is widespread in wild birds worldwide and is causing outbreaks in poultry and U.S. dairy cows with two cases of H5 in U.S. dairy workers. While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures. CDC is using its flu surveillance systems to monitor for H5N1 activity in people.
Updates on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (5/20/2024)
FDA
Department of Health
Surveillance
FDA is providing routine updates on avian influenza and the ongoing work to ensure continued effectiveness of the federal-state milk safety system.
Health Advisory: Meningococcal Disease Cases Linked to Travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA): Ensure Pilgrims are Current on Meningococcal Vaccination (5/20/2024)
CDC
Acute Care Hospital
Ambulatory (Outpatient) Care
Department of Health
Mobile Clinic
Pediatric / NICU
Emergency Preparedness & Operations
Surveillance
Vaccination
Since April 2024, 12 cases of meningococcal disease linked to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) travel for Umrah have been reported to national public health agencies in multiple countries including the United States (U.S.). Healthcare providers in the U.S. should: Recommend quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccination for people considering travel to KSA to perform Hajj or Umah (pilgrims) in addition to routine meningococcal vaccination for adolescents and other people at increased meningococcal disease risk. Maintain a heightened index of suspicion for meningococcal disease. Immediately notify the local health department about suspected or confirmed cases of meningococcal disease. Consider postexposure prophylaxis.
Rapid Evidence Product: Active Infection Surveillance of Clostridioides difficile ( diff) and Multidrug-Resistant Organisms: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacterales (CRE), and Candida auris (5/9/2024)
AHRQ
Acute Care Hospital
Department of Health
Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)
Surveillance
A summary of relevant and recent literature on active surveillance strategies in patient populations to reduce infection transmission of Clostridioides difficile, MRSA, CRE, and Candida auris.
VDH: Reporting Adverse Events in Children Following Exposure to THC and CBD Containing Products (4/24/2024)
VDH
Acute Care Hospital
Ambulatory (Outpatient) Care
Department of Health
Pediatric / NICU
Surveillance
Photo of 8 APIC-VA Conference Participants

APIC Virginia Conference

On October 5th and 6th, infection preventionists and public health partners from around the state came together in Richmond, VA for two days of education, networking, and learning about new products from industry partners.

The Virginia chapter of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC Virginia) had their highest attendance ever, with over 100 attendees for the conference on Friday, and approximately 60 pre-conference attendees on Thursday!

Preconference attendees learned the ins and outs of basic microbiology, how specimen collection can impact culture results, how to read susceptibility results and antibiograms, and how they can contribute to antimicrobial stewardship programs by focusing on enhancing their partnership with the laboratory.

Conference attendees brushed up on water management, dialysis, construction, nasal decolonization as a means to prevent infection, and heard about interesting Group A Strep and scabies outbreaks. A social event on Thursday provided great food and drink, and opportunities to network and socialize.

APIC Virginia looks forward to seeing you at next year’s educational conference! 

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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