Cookies used to track the effectiveness of CDC public health campaigns through clickthrough data. These include the following: LTC providers are encouraged to consider the option that works best for their residents and staff when coordinating access to COVID-19 vaccines, either in the local community or on-site. CDC has developed many resources specific to help support long-term facilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Recommended Dosage and Duration of Treatment or Chemoprophylaxis for Influenza Antiviral Medications, CDCs influenza antiviral drugs page for health professionals, CDCs seasonal influenza vaccination resources for health professionals page, Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization PracticesUnited States, 202223 Influenza Season, Interim Guidance for Influenza Outbreak Management in Long-term Care Facilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus, 2022-2023 Preliminary In-Season Burden Estimate, Who is at Higher Risk of Flu Complications, Flu and COVID-19 Vaccine Coadministration, Who Should & Who Should NOT Get Vaccinated, Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV)/Nasal Spray Vaccine, Selecting Viruses for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine, Flu Vaccine and People with Egg Allergies, Frequently Asked Questions on Vaccine Supply, Historical Reference of Vaccine Doses Distributed, Investigating Respiratory Viruses in the Acutely Ill (IVY), Respiratory Virus Transmission Network (RVTN), Randomized Assessment of Influenza Vaccine Efficacy Network (RAIVEN), Hospitalized Adult Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network (HAIVEN), How Vaccine Effectiveness and Efficacy are Measured, What People with a Staph Infection Should Know about Flu, Resources for Hosting a Vaccination Clinic, Overview of Influenza Surveillance in the United States, Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET), Weekly U.S. Initiation of antiviral treatment should not wait for laboratory confirmation of influenza. In addition to monitoring their COVID-19 Community Levels, facilities can consider factors that would indicate heightened risk, including the following: In addition to implementing the recommended prevention steps at each COVID-19 Community Level, congregate settings can consider adopting any of the following enhanced prevention strategies: To receive email updates about COVID-19, enter your email address: We take your privacy seriously. Background. Learn more about COVID-19 Vaccine Access in Long-Term Care Settings. For those living in a county listed in the Medium/Yellow category . We take your privacy seriously. No, there is currently no national requirement that residents of assisted living communities wear face masks. Saving Lives, Protecting People, symptoms of influenza and COVID-19 are similar, healthcare-associated infection program in your state health department, National Institutes of Health COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel, latest recommendations on treatment of nonhospitalized persons with mild-to-moderate COVID-19, Therapeutic Management of Nonhospitalized Adults With COVID-19, Medicare Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion Program Instruction, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/infection-control-recommendations.html, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-nCoV/lab/guidelines-clinical-specimens.html, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/table-flu-covid19-detection.html, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics-euas#individual-molecular, https://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics-euas#individual-antigenhttps://www.fda.gov/medical-devices/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-emergency-use-authorizations-medical-devices/vitro-diagnostics-euas#individual-antigen, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/table-nucleic-acid-detection.html, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/table-ridt.html, https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/guidelines/isolation/appendix/type-duration-precautions.html, https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/68/6/895/5369363, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/antivirals/summary-clinicians.htm, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html, https://www.covid19treatmentguidelines.nih.gov/special-populations/influenza/, https://www.atsjournals.org/doi/10.1164/rccm.201908-1581ST, https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/infectioncontrol/ltc-facility-guidance.htm, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), Reconstruction of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Virus, 2022-2023 Preliminary In-Season Burden Estimate, Who is at Higher Risk of Flu Complications, Flu and COVID-19 Vaccine Coadministration, Who Should & Who Should NOT Get Vaccinated, Live Attenuated Influenza Vaccine (LAIV)/Nasal Spray Vaccine, Selecting Viruses for the Seasonal Influenza Vaccine, Flu Vaccine and People with Egg Allergies, Frequently Asked Questions on Vaccine Supply, Historical Reference of Vaccine Doses Distributed, Investigating Respiratory Viruses in the Acutely Ill (IVY), Respiratory Virus Transmission Network (RVTN), Randomized Assessment of Influenza Vaccine Efficacy Network (RAIVEN), Hospitalized Adult Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Network (HAIVEN), How Vaccine Effectiveness and Efficacy are Measured, What People with a Staph Infection Should Know about Flu, Resources for Hosting a Vaccination Clinic, Overview of Influenza Surveillance in the United States, Influenza Hospitalization Surveillance Network (FluSurv-NET), Weekly U.S. Healthcare personnel, and visitors who are identified with any illness symptoms should be excluded from the facility until their illness has resolved. 2018 Sep;46(9):1077-1079. Consent or assent for a COVID-19 vaccine is given by LTC residents (or people appointed to make medical decisions on their behalf called a medical proxy) and documented in their charts per the providers standard practice. Because some of the symptoms of influenza and COVID-19 are similar, it may be difficult to tell the difference between these two respiratory diseases based on symptoms alone. Influenza Other Respir Viruses 2014; 8:7482. To report a case of COVID-19 in a long-term care facility: Call the Infectious Disease Epidemiology team at 802-863-7240 (option 7 after business hours or on weekends; option 8 during business hours), or. CDPH recognizes the importance that visitation and social . Please contact CDC-INFO at 800-232-4636 for additional support. COVID-19 vaccines are safeand effectiveespecially against becoming seriously ill, being hospitalized and dyingand very important for older adults. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has updated its COVID-19 guidance for health care workers, stratifying the guidance to take into consideration symptom severity, immune status and test results. Skilled nursing facilities should be prioritized among LTCFs as they provide care to the most medically vulnerable residents. The patient must be able to perform Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) independently. Assisted Living Facilities, and Enhanced Services Facilities Page 5 of 20 . March 10, 2020. CDC Guidance for Influenza Outbreak Management in Long-Term Care and Post-Acute Care Facilities . On April 27, 2021, CDC released updated healthcare infection prevention and control recommendations in response to COVID-19 vaccination, and CMS issued a revised QSO 20-39-NH (PDF) with updated guidance for visitation, group activities and communal dining in nursing homes accounting for the impact of COVID-19 vaccination. Older adults (especially those ages 50 years and older, with risk increasing with older age) are more likely than younger people to get very sick if they get COVID-19. Home health agencies. If resident movement or transport is necessary, have the resident wear a facemask (e.g., surgical or procedure mask), if possible. Intern Med 2002; 41:36670. Place symptomatic residents in Transmission-Based Precautions using all recommended PPE for care of a resident with suspected SARS-CoV-2 infection1. These residents should continue to be cared for using all recommended PPE for the care of a resident with SARS-CoV-2 infection.1. B) Residents confirmed with influenza only should be placed in a single room, if available, or housed with other residents with only influenza. Additionally, CDC has developed guidance to implement facility-wide testing in nursing homes and updated the interim testing guidance to integrate testing with other core prevention strategies. If a private room is not available, place (cohort) residents suspected of having influenza residents with one another; Wear a facemask (e.g., surgical or procedure mask) upon entering the residents room. If one laboratory-confirmed influenza positive case is identified along with other cases of acute respiratory illness in a unit of a long-term care facility, an influenza outbreak might be occurring. An emphasis on close monitoring and early initiation of antiviral treatment is an alternative to chemoprophylaxis in managing certain persons who have had a suspected exposure to influenza virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cannot attest to the accuracy of a non-federal website. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Administration for Community Living are working together to assist long-term care settings in providing access to COVID-19 vaccines and, where recommended, boosters. Wearing gloves if hand contact with respiratory secretions or potentially contaminated surfaces is anticipated. Oseltamivir is recommended for treatment of influenza in people of all ages. Wearing a gown if soiling of clothes with a residents respiratory secretions is anticipated. If unable to move a resident, he or she could remain in the current room with measures in place to reduce transmission to roommates (e.g., optimizing ventilation, antiviral chemoprophylaxis). For more information, see Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines. After skilled nursing facilities, consider broadening to other facilities, including: Intermediate care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities. MMWR 2011:60(RR07);1-45, Prevention and Control of Seasonal Influenza with Vaccines: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization PracticesUnited States, 202223 Influenza Season [523 KB, 32 pages], Seasonal Influenza Vaccination Resources for Health Professionals, Interim Guidance for Routine and Influenza Immunization Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic, Clinical Practice Guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America: 2018 Update on Diagnosis, Treatment, Chemoprophylaxis, and Institutional Outbreak Management of Seasonal Influenza, Influenza Antiviral Medications: Summary for Clinicians, Information for Clinicians on Influenza Virus Testing, Influenza virus testing in investigational outbreaks in institutional or other closed settings, Information on Rapid Molecular Assays, RT-PCR, and other Molecular Assays for Diagnosis of Influenza Virus Infection, Healthcare-associated infections and long-term care settings, Prevention Strategies for Seasonal Influenza in Healthcare Settings, CDC. These Precautions are part of the overall infection control strategy to protect against influenza in healthcare settings and should be used along with other infection control measures, such as isolation or cohorting of ill residents, screening employees and visitors for illness, furloughing ill healthcare personnel, and discouraging ill visitors from entering the facility. Facilities may not be able to apply all enhanced COVID-19 prevention strategies due to local resources, facility and population characteristics, and/or other factors. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. C) For adult patients with suspected community-acquired pneumonia who do not require hospitalization, see antibiotic treatment recommendations from the American Thoracic Society-Infectious Diseases Society of America Adult Community-acquired Pneumonia Guidelines.13 Administer each injection in a different injection site. Thank you for taking the time to confirm your preferences. For persons aged 65 years, the following quadrivalent influenza vaccines are recommended: high-dose IIV, adjuvanted IIV, or recombinant influenza vaccine. LA-HAN Update on the Availability of the State and Commercial COVID-19 Testing. If infection with an antiviral-resistant influenza virus is suspected, the local or state public health department should be notified promptly. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. On May 13th, 2021 , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) made significant changes to their guidance for mask-wearing based on accumulating data about COVID-19 infections in vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Effectiveness of post-exposition prophylaxis with oseltamivir in nursing homes: a randomised controlled trial over four seasons. CDCs guidance titled Prevention Strategies for Seasonal Influenza in Healthcare Settings contains details on the prevention strategies for all healthcare settings. Sub-prioritization of LTCF residents for COVID-19 vaccination ACIP recommends that LTCF residents be prioritized in the earliest phase of COVID-19 vaccination. Please see Antiviral Drugs: Information for Healthcare Professionals for the current summary of recommendations for clinical practice regarding the use of influenza antiviral medications. Published: September 23, 2022. covid19@ahca.org. According to requirements, each resident is to be vaccinated unless contraindicated medically, the resident or legal representative refuses vaccination, or the vaccine is not available because of shortage. Read the full CDC guidance here. Guidance for Infection Control and Prevention Concerning COVID-19 . C. Indoor Visitation CMS and CDC continue to provide guidance for nursing homes and other long-term care . Cookies used to enable you to share pages and content that you find interesting on CDC.gov through third party social networking and other websites. People are protected best from COVID-19 when they stay up to date with recommended COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters. It should be noted that some long-term care residents may have difficulty using the inhaler device for zanamivir. These include: ACIP recommends that LTCF residents be prioritized in the earliest phase of COVID-19 vaccination. CDC Long-Term Care Facility Vaccine Toolkit; This guidance applies at all large facilities - nursing, assisted living and residential care. Droplet Precautions should be implemented for residents with suspected or confirmed influenza for 7 days after illness onset or until 24 hours after the resolution of fever and respiratory symptoms, whichever is longer, while a resident is in a healthcare facility. If you need to go back and make any changes, you can always do so by going to our Privacy Policy page. Antiviral chemoprophylaxis is meant for residents who are not exhibiting influenza-like illness but who may be exposed or who may have been exposed to an ill person with influenza, to prevent transmission. Information about influenza testing is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/flu/professionals/diagnosis/index.htm. Vaccines: The CDC recommends that everyone age 5 and older get an updated covid booster shot. These cookies may also be used for advertising purposes by these third parties. PLoS One 2012; 7:e46509. While the incidence and timing of post-vaccination symptoms will be further informed by phase III clinical trial data, strategies are needed to mitigate possible HCP absenteeism and resulting personnel shortages due to the occurrence of these symptoms. Facilities should refer to the CDC's Updated Healthcare Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations in Response to COVID-19 Vaccination, PA-HAN 626, and CMS QSO-20-39-NH for guidance in supporting close contact (including touch) with visitors. The updated guidance, which applies regardless of a nursing home's level of vaccination status, includes the following recommendations: Source control - Everyone in a health care facility. Guidance for Fully Vaccinated Residents of Assisted Living Facilities Fully vaccinated residents of assisted living facilities may follow the CDC's recommendations for individuals who have been fully immunized against COVID-19 as described below: Fully vaccinated residents can gather with other fully vaccinated residents without masks Ask a family member or friend to help you schedule a vaccination appointment if you cant get vaccinated on site. Some states may have regulations in place . If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. CDC is not responsible for Section 508 compliance (accessibility) on other federal or private website. CDC twenty four seven. 1. Staggering delivery of vaccine to HCP in the facility so that personnel from a single department or unit are not all vaccinated at the same time. Viral culture should be performed at a public health laboratory if additional information on influenza viruses, such as influenza A virus subtype, antigenic characterization to compare with influenza vaccine strains, or antiviral resistance data, are needed. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance. Mar 10, 2021. Healthcare personnel who have occupational exposures can be counseled about the early signs and symptoms of influenza and advised to contact their health-care provider immediately for evaluation and possible early initiation of antiviral treatment if clinical signs or symptoms develop. The CDC today released updates to three guidance documents now available on its website. Limit the number of large group activities in the facility and consider serving all meals in resident rooms if possible when the outbreak is widespread (involving multiple units of the facility). Gloves do not replace the need for performing hand hygiene. While unusual, an influenza outbreak can occur outside of the normal influenza season; therefore, testing for influenza viruses and other respiratory pathogens should also be performed during non-influenza season periods.