March 5, 2024
This message includes updates on respiratory viruses from CDC.
CDC Updates and Simplifies Respiratory Virus Recommendations
Last week, CDC released updated recommendations for how people can protect themselves and their communities from respiratory viruses, including COVID-19. The new guidance brings a unified approach to addressing risks from a range of common respiratory viral illnesses, such as COVID-19, flu, and RSV, which can cause significant health impacts and strain on hospitals and health care workers. CDC is making updates to the recommendations now because the United States is seeing far fewer hospitalizations and deaths associated with COVID-19 and because we have more tools than ever to combat flu, COVID-19, and RSV. As part of the guidance, CDC provides active recommendations on core prevention steps and strategies and additional considerations for people who are at higher risk of severe illness from respiratory viruses, including older adults, young children, people with compromised immune systems, people with disabilities, and pregnant people.
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Vaccine Effectiveness of Updated 2023–2024 COVID-19 Vaccines
A new CDC report finds that the updated (2023-2024) COVID-19 vaccines cut the risk in half for visiting the emergency department, urgent care, or being hospitalized with COVID-19 for most people. Everyone 6 months and older should get an updated COVID-19 vaccine, especially people 65 years or older and people with medical conditions that make them more likely to get very sick with COVID-19, such as weakened immune systems. Learn more about how to stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines: Stay Up to Date with COVID-19 Vaccines
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Get ready for Patient Safety Awareness Week,
March 10-16!
Did you know? On any given day, about one in 31 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection.
Join experts from CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality and Promotion at three upcoming webinars where they’ll discuss insights into finding more patient-centered solutions for identifying and preventing patient harm in health care.
Mark your calendar: March 6 and March 21
Happening tomorrow! Join the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) at two free public webinars titled, “Quality Counts, Safety Matters: Prioritizing Patient Safety Through Quality Measurement,” featuring a special fireside chat with CDC’s Arjun Srinivasan, MD.
Register for the March 6 (12 p.m. ET) event or the March 21 (2 p.m. ET) event.
Mark your calendar: March 13
Join CDC’s Mike Bell, MD, Acting Director of the Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for a discussion on improving communication between patients and providers for patient safety.
Register for the Patient Safety Awareness Week Webinar: Effective Provider-Patient Communication, happening March 13 (2 p.m. ET).
Mark your calendar: March 10-16
Join CDC in celebrating Patient Safety Awareness Week next week. Share how you work to protect the health and safety of your patients by using the hashtags #PatientSafety and #PSAW24 on your favorite social media channels.
Read more about CDC’s patient safety efforts: https://www.cdc.gov/PatientSafety.
