Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

Section 4: Infection Control
• If the facility plans to utilize visitors for care of patients, provide the visitors with
infection control training needed for the level of tasks performed. Simple
handouts and videos can be utilized for this task.
• Visitors entering the influenza triage area, influenza cohort and who accompany
patients with influenza-like illness should be instructed in hand hygiene, the
appropriate use of masks, and restricted to contact to the individual patient for
whom they are attending.
V. Specific Long-Term Care Facility (LTCF) Infection Control Guidance
Residents of LTCFs are a vulnerable population for the acquisition and development of
complications of influenza due to advanced age, co-morbidities, regular close contact
with other at-risk persons, and decreased response to the influenza vaccine. LTCFs are
often an epidemiological microcosm of their community, with outbreaks of influenza
being identified before or concurrently with community case identification of circulating
influenza. Personnel, visitors, or resident/patient transfers from another LTCF or hospital
can introduce influenza into a LTCF. Once influenza is introduced into a facility, it is
often very difficult to control transmission.
Pandemic influenza presents additional challenges. A pandemic may occur any time of
the year. There would be an increased susceptibility in the community, further impacting
on potential exposures in the LTCF setting. Additionally, acute medical management of
residents in the LTCF setting should be anticipated and planned for, as hospitals may be
unable to meet all of the medical needs of the community. All of these factors would
pose additional challenges and unusual infection prevention concerns for the LTCF
setting (e.g., device-related infections, multi-drug resistant organisms) that are more
commonly seen in the acute care setting.
The following guidance is intended to address setting-specific infection control issues in
the LTCF setting.
A. Prevention or delay of pandemic influenza virus entry into the facility during all
influenza pandemic periods
• Place signs (bi or multilingual depending on facility’s resident population) at all
entrances and strategic locations detailing:
o The signs and symptoms of influenza and any current epidemiological risk
factors for a pandemic influenza strain, if identified.
o Visitors with ILI should not visit the facility.
• Designate a person(s) to routinely access (at least weekly during routine epidemic
influenza season) the NYSDOH Influenza Activity Surveillance Reports on the
NYSDOH Public Website at
http://www.health.state.ny.us/diseases/communicable/influenza/surveillance.htm
to obtain current information on the epidemiology of epidemic and pandemic
influenza. Communicate this information to all clinical staff and direct care
providers.
February 7, 2006 4-16