Virginia Infection Prevention & Control Training Alliance (VIPTA)

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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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Moving the Need on Infection Prevention. International Infection Prevention Week: October 13-19, 2024.

International Infection Prevention Week (IIPW): October 13–19, 2024

This year’s theme, “Moving the Needle on Infection Prevention,” is all about advancing infection prevention efforts and making infection prevention fun and engaging for your team. 

APIC provides activities like the Build a Bug Contest or daily infection prevention Wordles. These interactive events are designed to spark creativity, teamwork, and excitement while reinforcing the best practices that keep everyone safe. 

Ways to Use This Resource: 

  • Build a Bug Contest: Challenge your team to create their own superbug and showcase how they would stop it! 
  • Daily Wordle: Add some brain-teasing fun to your day with infection prevention-themed Wordles. 
  • Infection Prevention Challenges: Bring out the competitive spirit with trivia, scavenger hunts, and more. 

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.

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)
SHEA
Acute Care Hospital
Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)
Pediatric / NICU
Infection Prevention and Control of Candida auris in Pediatric Settings (6/23/2026) The guidance recommends identifying at-risk pediatric patients through targeted screening, using appropriate isolation and room-placement precautions, and coordinating closely with infection prevention and public health partners when Candida auris is suspected or confirmed. It also emphasizes prevention through meticulous hand hygiene, effective environmental cleaning and disinfection, and careful management of shared medical equipment, toys, common spaces, visitors, breastfeeding, skin-to-skin contact, and caregiver-child interactions.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 
CMS
Nursing Home / Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)
Regulatory Compliance
CMS QSO-26-14-NH Memo: Nursing Home Risk-Based Survey National Implementation (7/16/2026) CMS will implement a nationwide risk-based survey process beginning September 8, 2026. Qualifying high-performing nursing homes may receive streamlined recertification surveys, allowing survey resources to be focused on facilities and complaints that present greater risks to resident health and safety.
VDH: Clinician Letter – Measles Outbreak Expansion and Back-to-School Immunizations (6/26/2026)
VDH
Acute Care Hospital
Ambulatory (Outpatient) Care
Department of Health
Emergency Medical Services (EMS)
Pediatric / NICU
Emergency Preparedness & Operations
Vaccination
Clinician Letter: Measles Outbreak Expansion and Back-to-School Immunizations (6/26/2026) The Virginia Department of Health announced that the Buckingham County measles outbreak has expanded to Cumberland County. Review the expanded outbreak vaccination recommendations, encourage patients to stay up to date on immunizations before the school year, and immediately report suspected or confirmed measles cases to your local health department.

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)

SHEA

Infection Prevention and Control of Candida auris in Pediatric Settings (6/23/2026) The guidance recommends identifying at-risk pediatric patients through targeted screening, using appropriate isolation and room-placement precautions, and coordinating closely with infection prevention and public health partners when Candida auris is suspected or confirmed. It also emphasizes prevention through meticulous hand hygiene, effective environmental cleaning and disinfection, and careful...

Photo of Fairfax County Health Department staff celebrating Antimicrobial Awareness Week with purple balloons.

FCHD’s Antibiotic Awareness Week: A Celebration of Health & Education

The Fairfax County Health Department’s Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship in Skilled Nursing Facilities (SASS) team put together an amazing educational program for U.S. Antibiotic Awareness Week (USAAW) in November 2023! Their team is using CDC funding to focus on improving antimicrobial stewardship in skilled nursing facilities. During USAAW, they rolled out a toolkit for skilled nursing facilities to use for their own facility education.  

We spoke to Samantha Christensen, Fairfax County Health Department (FCHD) HAI Epidemiologist to learn more about their Antibiotic Awareness Week toolkit. The FCHD started the week off with a big celebration, beginning with a kickoff breakfast, an antimicrobial stewardship podcast playlist with QR codes for easy access, and a microbe “joke of the day”. They also put up a tri-fold education poster with purple themed balloons and decorations, wore purple for Antimicrobial Awareness Week, had antimicrobial stewardship themed trivia with Starbucks gift cards for prizes, and held a watch party (with snacks, of course) for everyone to view educational infection prevention and control videos!

And because we know you want to hear the jokes…. “What’s the most popular antibiotic in Italy?  Amoxsicilian!”   Here’s another good one… “What’s the opposite of an antibiotic?  An uncle-biotic!”

Congratulations to Samantha and the entire FCHD team for developing this fun and unique education program to ensure smart antibiotic use in skilled nursing facilities! 

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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