EP 50 - Emerging Pathogen Surveillance and Mitigation Plans – Incorporating into Standard Work and Readiness

Background: Epidemiologic surveillance is the foundation of healthcare infection control and consumes approximately 45% of Infection Prevention capacity. In 2020, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) surveillance was added for required external reporting and to guide hospital containment efforts to mitigate transmission risks. Over time, infection control policies to prevent transmission became tedious, costly, and even questioned by healthcare leaders. A scaled approach, based on risk levels, was developed and infection control measures were flexed accordingly.

Methods: An enterprise wide COVID-19 surveillance and mitigation plan was initiated using the R-naught (R0) value during the initial surge and transitioned to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) community transmission model for ongoing surveillance monitoring, respective of each hospital community served. This framework consists of four risk categories of transmission levels ranging from low to high. Hospital and community level data are added to the appropriate risk category and operational guidance regarding infection control measures corresponds to risk level. This weekly report is utilized by the Infection Preventionist (IP) to guide decisions with leaders.

Results: This approach continues to be utilized for recommendations regarding universal masking in non-clinical spaces, resurrecting live meetings, visitation policies, and elective procedures, for example. Scaling of mitigation efforts based on data and risk has led to partnership and trust between healthcare leaders, providers, and the hospital IP, and in some cases, justifies the additional costs for the safety of patients and healthcare workers.

Conclusions: This systematic approach for emerging pathogen surveillance consists of a standardized plan to mitigate transmission risk, yet the level of response can be based on local epidemiology. This approach has been sustained for over two years and modified slightly for Monkeypox surveillance and can easily be replicated for any emerging pathogen.