Surveillance of Respiratory Viruses in Long Term Care Facilities

Although residents of LTCFs have high morbidity and mortality associated with ARIs, there is very limited information on the virology of ARI in LTCFs.[1,2] Moreover, most virological testing of LCTF residents is reactive and is triggered by a resident meeting selected surveillance criteria. We report on incidental findings from a prospective trial of introducing rapid influenza diagnostic testing (RIDT) in ten Wisconsin LTCFs over a two-year period with an approach of testing any resident with ARI.

Objective: To assess the feasibility of conducting respiratory virus surveillance for residents of long term care facilities (LTCF) using simple nasal swab specimens and to describe the virology of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in LCTFs.