Public Policy Updates

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

In the CDC’s latest Safe Healthcare Blog, deputy director of CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Dr. Mike Bell reviews important infection control measures that can help IPs prepare their facilities to navigate the upcoming respiratory virus season. In addition, the CDC COCA team will host a webinar on recommendations for influenza, COVID-19, and RSV … Continued

The CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) issued a health advisory to notify clinicians and caregivers about increases in respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) across some parts of the Southeastern U.S. Read about CDC recommendations for prevention and treatment.

The CDC Health Alert Network (HAN) issued a health advisory to notify healthcare providers, laboratories, and public health departments about recent reports of fatal Vibrio vulnificus (V. vulnificus) infections, including wound and foodborne infections. Vibrio bacteria naturally live in coastal waters, and the Vibrio vulnificus species thrives in warmer waters. During July and August 2023, the U.S. … Continued

CMS issued a proposed rule requiring minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes. The proposed rule includes three core staffing proposals: APIC has expressed concern that the proposed rule does not include staffing requirements for infection preventionists in nursing homes.