Infection Prevention

Efficient Infection prevention and control practices protect patients and healthcare workers from Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI). Improved hand hygiene practices, personal protective equipment use, and environmental cleaning are essential in preventing and stopping infections.

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) programs should have a system in place to identify, track, report and respond to infections quickly. Standard precautions must be used for all patient care. Some patients will require Transmission- Based Precautions, in addition to the standard precautions, which is an extra level of precautions to prevent transmission of certain suspected or confirmed infections.

This page will have some helpful resources for your IPC activities and programs. We will be adding more information in the coming days based on consultations from our community partners.

Infection Control Assessment Tools

Infection Control Assessment tools developed by the CDC are used by the health departments in assessing infection prevention practices and to provide recommendations to improve any identified gaps. These tools can also be used by healthcare facilities to conduct internal quality assessments.  

Currently, assessment tools are available for acute care hospitals, outpatient, long-term care, and hemodialysis. These can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/hai/prevent/infection-control-assessment-tools.html.  

The ICAR tool is the assessment tool frequently used by Disease Surveillance for infection control recommendations.

General Instructions for Reporting Diseases

WHAT: Notifiable conditions in Texas. In addition to these conditions, any outbreaks, exotic diseases, and unusual group expressions of disease must be reported. All diseases shall be reported by name, age, sex, race/ethnicity, DOB, address, telephone number, disease, date of onset, method of diagnosis, and name, address, and telephone number of physician.

WHEN: The List indicates when to report each condition. Cases or suspected cases of illness considered to be public health emergencies, outbreaks, exotic diseases, and unusual group expressions of disease must be reported to the local health department or DSHS immediately. Other diseases for which there must be a quick public health response must be reported within one working day. All other conditions must be reported to the local health department or DSHS within one week. 

HOW: Most notifiable conditions, or other illnesses that may be of public health significance, should be reported directly to the local or health service regions. See exceptions marked by * on the Texas Notifiable Conditions List above. Paper reporting forms can be obtained by calling your local or health service region or by download in PDF format (Epi-2 for more detailed single case medical care provider reports or EPI-1 for less detailed multiple reports). As a last resort or in case of emergency, reports can be made by telephone to the state office at 888-963-7111. After hours this number will reach the physician / epidemiologist-on-call.

Special Instructions for Reporting Diseases

View reporting requirements for HIV/AIDS and other notifiable sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Invasive streptococcal disease, invasive meningococcal infection, or invasive Haemophilius influenzae type b infections refers to isolates from normally sterile sites and includes meningitis, septicemia, cellulitis, epiglottitis, osteomyelitis, pericarditis, septic arthritis, and necrotizing fasciitis.

Immediately report isolates of vancomycin intermediate and resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VISA) and (VRSA) by calling (800) 252-8239 or faxing (512) 776-7616. Isolates of VISA and VRSA shall be submitted to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Laboratory Services Section, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756-3199. All reports of VISA and VRSA shall include patient name; date of birth or age; sex; city of submitter; anatomic site of culture; date of culture; and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) if available.  

Laboratory shall submit pure cultures for these diseases: For all anthrax (Bacillus anthracis); botulism, adult and infant (Clostridium botulinum); brucellosis (Brucella species); Candida auris; diphtheria (Corynebacteria diphtheria from any site); all Haemophilus influenzae, invasive, in children under five years old (Haemophilus influenzae from normally sterile sites); listeriosis (Listeria monocytogenes); meningococcal infection, invasive (Neisseria meningitidis from normally sterile sites or purpuric lesions); plague (Yersinia pestis); salmonellosis, including typhoid fever (Salmonella species); Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection (E.coli O157:H7, isolates or specimens from cases where Shiga toxin activity is demonstrated); Staphylococcus aureus with a vancomycin MIC greater than 2 µg/mL; all Streptococcus pneumoniae, invasive, in children under five years old (Streptococcus pneumoniae from normally sterile sites); tuberculosis (Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex); tularemia (Francisella tularensis); and vibriosis (Vibrio species)  (Texas Administrative Code)

These cultures will be accompanied by a current department Specimen Submission Form to the Texas Department of State Health Services, Laboratory Services Section, 1100 West 49th Street, Austin, TX 78756-3199.