Policy Updates

APIC provided recommendations to CMS on the need for infection preventionists in nursing homes in response to a proposed rule on minimum long-term care (LTC) staffing requirements. We are also asking APIC members to weigh in with CMS on the proposed rule. You can click here to view and send a pre-written comment letter directly … Continued

A workgroup of CDC’s Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) has been reviewing and updating the 2007 Isolation Precautions guideline. The first draft of the new first section will be presented to HICPAC for a review and vote at a public meeting later this week, November 2-3. If HICPAC votes to approve the draft, … Continued

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign that is celebrated annually to improve awareness and understanding of AMR and encourage best practices among the public, One Health stakeholders and policymakers, who all play a critical role in reducing the further emergence and spread of AMR. Read more about WAAW 2023 activities.

September 29, 2023 — In an effort to prepare for the coming respiratory virus season, CDC and CMS are working to raise awareness of the new prevention tools available to protect babies and older adults from illness and complications related to Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). Click here to learn more.

The September 2023 Refresh of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) data is now available on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC). The data are based on quality assessment data submitted by LTCHs to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from Quarter 1, 2022 through Quarter 4, 2022, and for … Continued

September 18–22, 2023 is Fungal Disease Awareness Week (FDAW). Each year, CDC and partners dedicate FDAW to activities and outreach that encourage everyone to Think Fungus. Fungal infections can cause serious illness but often go undiagnosed as it is hard to tell a fungal disease apart from some other non-fungal diseases. There is increasing evidence that … Continued

NIOSH has updated and reformatted its Certified Equipment List. This tool can be used to find NIOSH Approved® respirators and allows for quick searches for identifying respirators of current interest. NIOSH encourages users to update their bookmarks to point to the new Certified Equipment List page.

Following FDA approval of the updated Moderna and Pfizer mRNA COVID-19 vaccines for 2023-2024, the CDC recommended the updated COVID-19 vaccine for everyone six months and older who has not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past two months. The updated vaccines are formulated to more closely target the currently circulating variants. Barring the emergence … Continued

A study published in the recent issue of MMWR found that people in South American countries who had gotten influenza vaccines were half as likely to be hospitalized with flu during the 2023 Southern Hemisphere flu season compared to people who did not get vaccines. These preliminary data suggest that if the same viruses continue … Continued