Infection Control Breaking News... VICPA AGM and Study Day - 15th July 2009 The VICPA AGM will be held this year on Wednesday 15th July, commencing at 1700 hours at the Caulfield General Medical Centre, Kooyong Road, Caulfield.   All financial members are invited to attend the AGM   Prior to the AGM the Victorian Infection Control Professionals Association the VICPA Metropolitan Seminar to view the program click here.   Venue Ashley Ricketson Centre, Caulfield General Medical Centre, 260 Kooyong Road Caulfield Cost VICPA Members Free Non-VICPA Members $25.00 (Inc. GST) RSVP 10 July 2009 by completing a registration form and posting or faxing it.   VICPA 2009 Conference Registrations are now open The VICPA 2009 Conference to be held 7-9 October at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Melbourne. This year's conference promises a diverse mix of topics from a range of practice areas and will provide an opportunity for you to meet with peers, share ideas, innovations and expertise. Further information is available at www.vicpa2009.com   Critical Dates: Abstract Submission: Friday, 31 July 2009 Early Bird Registration: Friday, 4 September 2009 Click here to download further information on submitting an abstract. Pertussis Alert DHS has issued an alert for increased notifications of pertussis, the information may be access by the attached link:   http://www.health.vic.gov.au/chiefhealthofficer/alerts/pertussis.htm   Download The Guideline for Disinfection and Sterilization in Healthcare Facilities, 2008 Hand Hygiene Website Launch The Hand Hygiene Australia team are pleased to announce their new website is now live at http://www.hha.org.au/     Changes to the Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 2001 The Health (Infectious Diseases) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 came into effect on 21 September 2008. The purpose of the current Health (Infectious Diseases) Regulations 2001, in conjunction with the Health Act 1958, is to prevent and control the transmission of infectious diseases in the Victorian community.   The amendments to the regulations are as follows:  List varicella-zoster virus infection (chickenpox and herpes zoster) as a Group B notifiable disease.  Add the collection of country of birth and if born overseas, year of arrival in Australia to Schedule 4 of the regulations (ie part of notifiable information required from general practitioners).  Amend the school exclusion table (schedule 6) for Influenza contacts to read Not excluded unless considered necessary by the Secretary. The amendments will assist in the effective evaluation of the varicella vaccination program, result in the ability to better identify the health needs of new arrivals in Victoria, and improve the management of pandemic influenza in the school community, should a pandemic arise. The Department has created a website which contains information on the Regulations including how to notify cases of infectious diseases and various other useful links, including a link to the Parliament of Victoria website which contains an electronic version of the Regulations. The address for this website is: http://www.health.vic.gov.au/ideas/regulations/id_regs If you have any queries please contact Rodney Moran, Communicable Disease Prevention & Control Unit on (03) 9096 5133 or rodney.moran@dhs.vic.gov.au   SHEA/APIC Guideline: Infection prevention and control in the long-term care facility Click here to view a copy.   Standards of Practice for the Victorian Infection Control Professional The Victorian Infection Control Competency document is now available in its final format. Thank you to all of the VICPA members who contributed to the development of the document through attendance at workshops and reviewing & forwarding your greatly appreciated feedback throughout the process. The development of the competency standards was in response to issues raised from the VICPA membership around professional development, career structure, education requirements and program resourcing. It was recognised that in order to address some, if not all of these issues the investigation into the scope of practice and the development of competency standards was required. It is hoped that the document will go a long way toward being able to meet this need by informing the workplace and individuals what the key functions of the ICPs are and assist in identifying the ICPs educational requirements and professional development needs.   Click here to download a copy...		About VICPA Preventing infection through safe practice VICPA is a voluntary, not for profit association representing Victorian infection control professionals and other health care workers with an interest in infection prevention and control. The association promotes infection prevention strategies in health care settings by working together to foster professional development and standards of practice.   Click here to read more about VICPA   What's on? Membership Renewals  Standards of Practice for the Victorian Infection Control Professional Read the latest e-bulletin Job Opportunities Hand Hygiene Website VICPA Journal Club Membership Website Login Instructions If you are experiencing difficulty in logging on? Please click here or contact us  AICA Website   Are you a VICPA member and require login details for the AICA website?  Click here