Guidelines for preventing respiratory illness in older adults aged 60 years and above living in long-term care: A rapid review of clinical practice guidelines

Patricia Rios; Amruta Radhakrishnan; Sonia M. Thomas; Nazia Darvesh; Sharon E. Straus; Andrea C. Tricco

6.4 Concluding the outbreak 6.4.1 Declaring the outbreak over The OMT, with approval from the local public health authority, has responsibility for declaring the outbreak is over. The time from the onset of symptoms of the last case until the outbreak is declared over can vary, and depends on whether the last case was a resident or staff member. Generally, an influenza outbreak can be declared over if no new cases occur within 8 days following the onset of symptoms in the last resident case (8 days is the sum of the usual infectious period [5 days] plus maximum incubation period [3days]). A decision to declare the outbreak over should be made by the OMT, in consultation with the PHU. The OMT may take decisions about ongoing RCF surveillance after declaring the outbreak over, considering the following needs: • To maintain general infection control measures. • To monitor the status of ill residents, communicating with the public health authority if their status changes.