Medical Director Report – January 2025

Influenza and COVID

• Influenza activity is high across the U.S.
• Influenza A is the dominant type
• Expect high activity for several more weeks
• 4.700 deaths due to influenza so far this season
• 110,000 hospitalizations due to influenza this season
• Over 9.1 million influenza cases thus far
• Weekly US Influenza Surveillance Report: Key Updates for Week 1, ending January 4, 2025 | FluView | CDC

COVID-19

• LTC no longer need to report individual lab results to public health.

Avian Influenza – Influenza H5N1

This strain of influenza has multiple subtypes (H5N1, H5N3, H5N8 etc…) and primarily infects domestic and wild birds but can also infect dairy cattle, domestic and wild cats, and other mammals. The total number of human cases in the U.S. is about 66 with just one death thus far. The one death in the U.S. occurred in Louisiana. This is the first death from this strain of influenza in the U.S. but not in the world. The threat to humans at this point is still low. The mortality rate for avian influenza is approximately 50% worldwide.

Since 2003 to 14 July 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 878 cases of HPAI H5N1 infection in humans and 458 (52%) fatalities in 23 countries. (4)

1. H5 Bird Flu: Current Situation | Bird Flu | CDC
2. Avian Influenza – WOAH – World Organisation for Animal Health
3. Mortality of H5N1 human infections might be due to H5N1 virus pneumonia and could decrease by switching receptor – The Lancet Infectious Diseases
4. A comprehensive review of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1: An imminent threat at doorstep – ScienceDirect

Nursing Home Staffing Campaign | CMS

Overview

To foster meaningful increases in nursing home staff, CMS will provide:

• Financial Incentives for Registered Nurses (RNs), like tuition reimbursement to encourage RNs to work in nursing homes and state agencies.
• Promoting Training Opportunities by streamlining the process for individuals to become a Certified Nurse Aide (CNA), which can include paid, on-the-job training, making it easier for them to enter the nursing home workforce.

Nurse Recruitment Webpage

CMS will launch a webpage for prospective nurses. Initially, it will highlight and link to state websites that provide listings of local CNA training programs. When the RN financial incentives are available, the site will provide links to apply for that assistance.

https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-safety-standards/quality-safety-oversight-general-information/nursing-home-staffing-campaign