Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Influenza Outbreaks in Residential Care Facilities for Public Health Units in Australia
4.8 Declare that the outbreak is over
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4.8.1 Definition of end of outbreak
Prior to declaring an outbreak over, the facility must not have experienced any new cases of infection (resident or staff) which meet the case definition for the period of time as defined by the OIMT. As a general rule, influenza outbreaks can be declared over if no new cases have occurred in 8 days from the onset of symptoms of the last resident case. The rationale for this definition is that if the outbreak were continuing, new cases would have been identified within 8 days, since 8 days is the outer limit of the period of communicability of influenza in adults (5 days) plus one incubation period (3 days).6 Note that if symptoms in the last resident case resolve sooner than 5 days, or if the last case is a staff member who should stay at home during the period of communicability, the time until the outbreak is declared over can be shortened accordingly.4.8.2. Ongoing surveillance
The OIMT may make decisions about ongoing surveillance needs after declaring the outbreak over. Ongoing surveillance may include:4.8.3. Notify relevant individuals
Once the outbreak has been declared over, all individuals notified of the outbreak at the beginning of the investigation are to be notified that the outbreak is over.4.8.4 Complete the outbreak investigation file
An outbreak file should contain the following:Complete an outbreak report and prepare a summary for the manager of the facility.
