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Official Website

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

    The .gov means its official.

    Local, state, and federal government websites often end in .gov. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania government websites and email systems use "pennsylvania.gov" or "pa.gov" at the end of the address. Before sharing sensitive or personal information, make sure you're on an official state website. 

    Disease Testing & Reporting

    Mandatory Reporting: Influenza and RSV cases are reportable in PA and should be reported to PA-NEDSS.

    Positive point-of-care tests: Positive results from point-of-care tests performed within health care settings should be manually entered into Pennsylvania’s reportable disease surveillance system, PA-NEDSS.

    • Tests sent to a hospital or commercial lab generally do not need to be manually entered as they are reported directly by the lab. If you use a smaller lab, especially one located out of state, please confirm that they are reporting to PA-NEDSS.  If they are not, your facility is then responsible for reporting. 
    • For multiple positive point-of-care tests, there is an optional aggregate reporting module in PA-NEDSS. This allows your facility to report the total number of cases per week.

    Hospitalizations and deaths: All hospitalizations and deaths due to influenza or RSV must be reported individually to PA-NEDSS. To prevent double counting, they must not be included in totals entered into the aggregate reporting module.

    Outbreaks: Report all respiratory virus outbreaks immediately. Contact your local health department or state health center if you suspect an outbreak in your facility. Locate your state health center here or call 1-877-PA-HEALTH.

    NOTE:  There is no standard definition of a respiratory virus outbreak in a hospital. The hospital infection preventionist should determine when an outbreak is occurring. Long-term care facilities (LTCF) should refer to the LTCF page for outbreak tools and definitions.

    Mandatory Reporting: Reporting of positive COVID-19 test results to PA-NEDSS is currently mandated in Allegheny, Philadelphia, and Montgomery counties. In the rest of Pennsylvania, voluntary positive COVID-19 test reporting is strongly recommended.

    Outbreaks: Report COVID-19 outbreaks by calling your local health jurisdiction, unless alternative arrangements for reporting have been made (i.e., you have previously worked with an epidemiologist and have arranged to email them new outbreak reports).

    Health care facilities and LTCFs are not required to report every new case of COVID-19 once an outbreak is identified. Only an initial report of a new outbreak, occurring greater than 14 days following the detection of the most recent case, should be made. A summary of COVID-19 data reporting is included under the Reporting Requirements and Recommendations section of the COVID-19 LTC Toolkit.

    Please call the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) at 1-877-PA-HEALTH (1-877-724-3258) or your local health department if you have any questions about reporting requirements, outbreak response, or if your facility requires guidance on infection prevention and control measures in a health care setting.

    COVID-19 outbreak definitions by health care facility type are available in PA-HAN-701.

    NOTE: Other state and federal programs may have different or additional reporting requirements.

     

    Pediatric deaths due to influenza (<18 years) or RSV (<5 years) are reportable to PA-NEDSS and CDC.

    DOH may contact you or your facility to complete a case report form for submission to CDC.

    Screening: Providers should screen patients with respiratory symptoms for contact with pigs, wild birds, poultry, dairy cows, or other animals, and for travel to areas with ongoing avian influenza outbreaks. Send specimens to the DOH Bureau of Laboratories (BOL) for testing of avian or variant flu from patients who are symptomatic and meet one of the below criteria:

    1) Exposure to swine in the 10 days prior to their illness onset AND specimens are subtype negative or unable to be subtyped

    2) Exposure to animals or birds known to have highly pathogenic avian influenza in the 10 days prior to their illness onset

    3) Are hospitalized with severe illness with no identified etiology AND who have had exposure to dairy cows, sick or dead birds, sick or dead animals, or raw milk exposure within the 10 days prior to illness onset.

    Reporting: Notify DOH for recommendations and next steps by calling 1-877-PA-HEALTH.

    Additional details can be found below:

    Vaccinations for health care personnel

    Getting vaccinated helps protect your health care personnel and those in your care, even if they are not at high risk for severe illness. It also can reduce doctor’s visits and missed work and school days due to respiratory illness. Everyone 6 months of age and older should receive COVID-19 and influenza vaccines every fall. RSV vaccinations are recommended for people who are pregnant (32 – 36 weeks), 75 years and older, and high-risk individuals who are 60 - 74 years old. 

    Clinical consultation

    If an emerging or rare respiratory virus is suspected, call DOH for assistance at 1-877-787-3350. This assistance is available 24/7 days a week. 

    Examples include clinical suspicion for:

    • Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)
    • Avian (bird) influenza 
    • Variant influenza (e.g. A/H3N2v)
    • SARS (SARS-CoV-1)
    • Any other public health concerns

    Laboratories

    Hospital and commercial laboratories performing influenza testing with Universal or Viral Transport Media should submit specimens for the following to the DOH Bureau of Laboratories (BOL).

    1. Specimens that need to be shipped immediately to BOL: 

    I. Influenza A positive specimens that are subtype negative on tests designed to provide an influenza subtyping result (e.g.,. Biofire) and confirmed upon retest.

    II. Influenza A positive specimens that are subtype influenza A(H1) and not influenza A(H1)pdm09 on tests designed to provide an influenza subtyping result and confirmed upon retest.

    When to send flu specimens to BOL

    To ship these specimens to BOL, call 1-717-787-3350 to activate rush courier. Complete a specimen submission form, and order “FLU A SUBTYPE NEG” on the form. Include your results and method. View courier information.

    If you have additional questions, please reach out to the BOL at 1-610-280-3464 or the Bureau of Epidemiology at 1-717-787-3350.

    Health care facilities

    DOH encourages health care facilities, including skilled nursing facilities, to follow the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Healthcare Personnel.

    To prevent the transmission of respiratory infection in health care settings, including influenza, RSV, and COVID-19, the following infection control measures should be implemented into standard procedures:

    1. Optimize the Use of Administrative and Engineering Controls
    2. Communicate about Recommended Infection Control Practices
    3. Practice Respiratory Hygiene and Cough Etiquette
    4. Consider Broader use of Source Control
    5. Use Appropriate Transmission-Based Precautions Based on Suspected Diagnosis
    6. Monitor and Manage III Health Care Personnel

    For more details on each measure, please visit Preventing Transmission of Viral Respiratory Pathogens in Healthcare Settings | Infection Control | CDC.

    Additional health care facility resources for respiratory viruses (COVID-19 and influenza)

    General Health Care Facility Information

    COVID-19 Health Care Resources