Healthcare Ventilation Can Really Blow

When it comes to infection prevention, what’s in the air matters. This month’s featured resources focus on healthcare airflow and ventilation, breaking down complex concepts into practical tools that are easy to use. Be sure to check the Regulation & Guidance Updates section for new information from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) to stay current on the latest recommendations.

What to Expect

ASHE Project Firstline Explainer Videos: Short, easy-to-share resource from American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) that help facility managers and frontline staff understand the critical role ventilation plays in keeping healthcare environments safe. (English & Spanish)
CDC Project Firstline Ventilation Factsheet: A clear, shareable overview of how ventilation supports infection control and helps reduce the spread of germs in healthcare settings. (English & Spanish)
ASHE Ventilation Quick Guide FAQs: A plain-language reference with concise answers to common questions about ventilation and prevention in the healthcare environment. (English & Spanish)

How to use it:

Walk-Through with Unit IP Champion: Have a charge nurse or IP do a 5-minute walk of the area looking for best practices and asking staff:
- “What should never be in front of an airflow vent?”
- “What rooms require doors closed?”
Breakroom Air Facts Board: Post the CDC factsheet with a simple header like: “This room protects patients/residents too. Here’s how the air helps.”
Play Rank That Risk!: Use airflow issues you found on rounds or create hypothetical risks you want staff to be aware of like a vent blocked by a trashcan, propped open door of an airborne isolation room, or a missing or open ceiling tile. Ask: “What’s the risk here?”

Target Audience: Intermediate IPC Education Level

Guidance, Recommendations, & Regulatory 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.

CDC: Conjunctivitis (09/11/2026)

CDC

Any Practice Setting

The CDC recommends excluding healthcare personnel with suspected or confirmed infectious conjunctivitis, including epidemic keratoconjunctivitis (EKC), from work for the duration of their symptoms. These recommendations emphasize strict hand hygiene, appropriate cleaning and disinfection of surfaces and shared medical equipment, and prompt identification and management of cases to prevent transmission and healthcare-associated outbreaks.

CDC: Viral Respiratory Infections (09/11/2026)

CDC

Any Practice Setting

The CDC provides updated recommendations for managing healthcare personnel exposed to or infected with viral respiratory infections, including work restrictions, symptom monitoring, and source control. Asymptomatic exposed personnel may continue working with source control through at least five days after their last exposure, while infected personnel should be excluded from work for at least three days and meet additional symptom-based return-to-work criteria, followed by source control through at least day seven.

CDC: Preventing Respiratory Infections in the Workplace (08/28/2026)

CDC

Any Practice Setting

The CDC provides recommendations to help employers prevent and respond to respiratory infections in the workplace through improved ventilation, engineering controls, environmental cleaning and disinfection, and policies that encourage sick employees to stay home. These recommendations also emphasize using respiratory illness surveillance data to inform workplace prevention strategies, including masking and remote work, to reduce transmission and protect employee health.

Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA)

August 10, 2026 August 12, 2026 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...

Carilion Clinic

The Carilion Clinic Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) team is engaging patients in the outpatient hand hygiene program. Infection prevention is a team effort, and everyone, including patients, has a role to play. Hand hygiene is the most crucial strategy for preventing infections, and through this program, Carilion is committed to providing the best patient care.

The Patient Feedback Monitoring Program invites patients at ambulatory sites to provide feedback on their providers’ hand hygiene. During their visits, patients receive feedback cards where they can indicate “yes,” “no,” or “unsure” if their provider performed hand hygiene before initiating physical contact. These data are compiled into a Tableau dashboard and shared with sites in real-time to evaluate compliance. The goal of this program is to highlight the importance of hand hygiene in the clinical setting and empower patients to be allies and advocates for infection prevention.

Since the program’s creation, the Carilion Clinic IPC team has been actively engaging ambulatory clinics and promoting the initiative, setting a goal for each clinic to submit 40 observations per month. Collaborating with the marketing and technology departments, the team ensured that the observation tools are accessible. The total number of outpatient hand hygiene observations increased from 12,311 in 2022 to 17,033 in 2023. As of July 2024, outpatient clinics have already collected 11,259 observations, and the year is only half over!