scholarly journals Aerosol Reduction In Dentistry: Minimizing Risk Of Covid 19

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bhanu P. Lakhani ◽  
Apoorva Sharma ◽  
Varun Sanwalka ◽  
Pulkit Lakhani
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Aerosol Generation ◽  
Dental Office ◽  
Dental Offices ◽  
Control Disease ◽  
And Control ◽  
Procedural Recommendations ◽  
Dental Professionals

— Introduction: The challenging times of COVID 19 pandemic pose a greater risk to dental professionals and patients. Since the worldwide outbreak, dental offices have been advised to disrupt regular functioning. Aim and Objective: This article aims to discuss measures of infection prevention and control, special procedural recommendations to minimize disease transmission while reducing aerosol generation, surface disinfection and careful waste management to assist dental offices to limit the risk of COVID 19. Conclusion: Adhering to the principles of infection control and non-aerosol generating practices in dental office could help control disease transmission, keeping the dental professionals and the patients safe.

scholarly journals Legal Requirements for Infection Prevention and Control Training Among Healthcare Personnel

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s70-s70
Author(s):  
Lauren Weil ◽  
Alexa Limeres ◽  
Astha KC ◽  
Carissa Holmes ◽  
Tara Holiday ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Healthcare Personnel ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Content Areas ◽  
Training Requirements ◽  
Training Content ◽  
And Control ◽  
Dental Professionals

Background: When healthcare providers lack infection prevention and control (IPC) knowledge and skills, patient safety and quality of care can suffer. For this reason, state laws sometimes dictate IPC training; these requirements can be expressed as applying to various categories of healthcare personnel (HCP). We performed a preliminary assessment of the laws requiring IPC training across the United States. Methods: During February–July 2018, we searched WestlawNext, a legal database, for IPC training laws in 51 jurisdictions (50 states and Washington, DC). We used standard legal epidemiology methods, including an iterative search strategy to minimize results that were outside the scope of the coding criteria by reviewing results and refining search terms. A law was defined as a regulation or statute. Laws that include IPC training for healthcare personnel were collected for coding. Laws were coded to reflect applicable HCP categories and specific IPC training content areas. Results: A total of 278 laws requiring IPC training for HCP were identified (range, 1–19 per jurisdiction); 157 (56%) did not specify IPC training content areas. Among the 121 (44%) laws that did specify IPC content, 39 (32%) included training requirements that focused solely on worker protections (eg, sharps injury prevention and bloodborne pathogen protections for the healthcare provider). Among the 51 jurisdictions, dental professionals were the predominant targets: dental hygienists (n = 22; 43%), dentists (n = 20; 39%), and dental assistants (n = 18; 35%). The number of jurisdictions with laws requiring training for other HCP categories included the following: nursing assistants (n = 25; 49%), massage therapists (n = 11; 22%), registered nurses (n = 10; 20%), licensed practical nurses (n = 10; 20%), emergency medical technicians and paramedics (n = 9; 18%), dialysis technicians (n = 8; 18%), home health aides (n = 8;16%), nurse midwives (n = 7; 14%), pharmacy technicians (n = 7; 14%), pharmacists (n = 6; 12%), physician assistants (n = 4; 8%), podiatrists (n = 3; 6%), and physicians (n = 2; 4%). Conclusions: Although all jurisdictions had at least 1 healthcare personnel IPC training requirement, many of the laws lack specificity and some focus only on worker protections, rather than patient safety or quality of care. In addition, the categories of healthcare personnel regulated among jurisdictions varied widely, with dental professionals having the most training requirements. Additional IPC training requirements exist at the facility level, but this information was not analyzed as a part of this project. Further analysis is needed to inform our assessment and identify opportunities for improving IPC training requirements, such as requiring IPC training that more fully addresses patient protections.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Infection prevention guidelines and considerations for paediatric risk groups when reopening primary schools during COVID-19 pandemic, Norway, April 2020

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (22) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tone Bjordal Johansen ◽  
Elisabeth Astrup ◽  
Solveig Jore ◽  
Hege Nilssen ◽  
Bente Barton Dahlberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Risk Groups ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
School Closures ◽  
Prevention Guidelines ◽  
And Control

In response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, most countries implemented school closures. In Norway, schools closed on 13 March 2020. The evidence of effect on disease transmission was limited, while negative consequences were evident. Before reopening, risk-assessment for paediatric risk groups was performed, concluding that most children can attend school with few conditions requiring preventative homeschooling. We here present infection prevention and control guidelines for primary schools and recommendations for paediatric risk groups.

scholarly journals Bat Intrusions at a Tertiary Care Center, Iowa 2018–2020

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (S1) ◽  
pp. s16-s16
Author(s):  
Mohammed Alsuhaibani ◽  
Takaaki Kobayashi ◽  
Lorinda Sheeler ◽  
Alexandra Trannel ◽  
Stephanie Holley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Care Center ◽  
Academic Medical Center ◽  
Tertiary Care ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Potential Exposure ◽  
And Control

Background: Bats are recognized as important vectors in disease transmission. Frequently, bats intrude into homes and buildings, increasing the risk to human health. We describe bat intrusions and exposure incidents in our hospital over a 3-year period. Methods: The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC) is an 811-bed academic medical center in Iowa City, Iowa. Established in 1928, UIHC currently covers 209,031.84 m2 (~2,250,000 ft2) and contains 6 pavilions built between 1928 and 2017. We retrospectively obtained bat intrusion calls from the infection prevention and control program call database at UIHC during 2018–2020. We have also described the event management for intrusions potentially associated with patient exposures. Results: In total, 67 bat intrusions occurred during 2018–2020. The most frequent locations were hallways or lounges 28 (42%), nonclinical office spaces 19 (14%), and stairwells 8 (12%). Most bat intrusions (65%) occurred during the summer and fall (June–November). The number of events were 15 in 2018, 28 in 2019, and 24 in 2020. We observed that the number of intrusions increased with the age of each pavilion (Figure 1). Of 67 intrusions, 2 incidents (3%) were associated with potential exposure to patients. In the first incident, reported in 2019, the bat was captured in a patient care area and released before an investigation of exposures was completed and no rabies testing was available. Also, 10 patients were identified as having had potential exposure to the bat. Among them, 9 patients (90%) received rabies postexposure prophylaxis. In response to this serious event, we provided facility-wide education on our bat control policy, which includes the capture and safe handling of the bat, assessment of potential exposures, and potential need for rabies testing. We also implemented a bat exclusion project focused on the exterior of the oldest hospital buildings. The second event, 1 patient was identified to have potential exposure to the bat. The bat was captured, tested negative for rabies, no further action was needed. Conclusions: Bat intrusions can be an infection prevention and control challenge in facilities with older buildings. Hospitals may need animal intrusion surveillance systems, management protocols, and remediation efforts.Funding: NoDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Repatriation operation in South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic: initial planning and preparedness

2021 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali Meena ◽  
Joel Chan ◽  
Tuong-Vi Phan ◽  
Samantha Butenko ◽  
Jenny Hurley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Disease Transmission ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Care Delivery ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Legal Responsibility ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
Care Delivery Model ◽  
And Control ◽  
Critical Public Health

With COVID-19 affecting millions of people around the globe, quarantine of international arrivals is a critical public health measure to prevent further disease transmission in local populations. This measure has also been applied in the repatriation of citizens, undertaken by several countries as an ethical obligation and legal responsibility. This article describes the process of planning and preparing for the repatriation operation in South Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Interagency collaboration, development of a COVID-19 testing and quarantining protocol, implementing infection prevention and control, and building a specialised health care delivery model were essential aspects of the repatriation operational planning, with a focus on maintaining dignity and wellbeing of the passengers as well as on effective prevention of COVID-19 transmission. From April 2020 to mid-February 2021, more than 14,000 international arrivals travellers have been repatriated under the South Australian repatriation operations. This paper has implications to inform ongoing repatriation efforts in Australia and overseas in a pandemic situation.

Microbiological purity of syringes containing composites in the context of cross-infection prevention in dental practices

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-105
Author(s):  
Joanna Bialowska ◽  
Witold Bojar ◽  
Tomasz Zareba ◽  
Stefan Tyski ◽  
Barbara Tymczyna-Borowicz
Keyword(s):  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Dental Materials ◽  
Cross Infection ◽  
Aerobic Bacteria ◽  
Filling Material ◽  
Bodily Fluids ◽  
Dental Office ◽  
Dental Practices ◽  
Dental Offices ◽  
Aerobic And Anaerobic

AbstractCross-infection involves the transmission of microorganisms through secretions, bodily fluids and excreta, as well as undisinfected surfaces and medical equipment. In the dental office, diseases are transmitted via various routes, e.g. from patient to dentist or other member of dental team, from doctor or dental team member to patient, from patient to another patient, from dental office to community and from community to patient. The study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of infection control in dental practices based on the qualitative and quantitative assessment of microbiological contaminants detected on the surface of filling material packaging used in dental offices. The material for research were 9 packages containing dental materials during their use in 3 dental settings. The packages were placed in sterile flasks and rinsed to wash microorganisms from the surfaces. The washes were filtered through membrane filters and cultured under proper aerobic and anaerobic conditions, and at elevated CO2 concentration. Microbial growth on TIO and TSB media was observed. The contamination of most samples remained low as indicated by the growth from one to a maximum of five colonies on TSA. The contamination remained at the level of 10-50 CFU/package, i.e. <100 CFU/single package. The tests evaluating the contamination of dental package surfaces with aerobic bacteria confirmed high hygiene standards observed in dental offices from which the packages were brought.

Effective infection prevention and control strategies in a large accredited psychiatric facility in Singapore

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Poremski ◽  
Sandra Henrietta Subner ◽  
Grace Lam Fong Kin ◽  
Raveen Dev Ram Dev ◽  
Mok Yee Ming ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Psychiatric Facility ◽  
Essential Services ◽  
Community Transmission ◽  
And Control

The Institute of Mental Health in Singapore continues to attempt to prevent the introduction of COVID-19, despite community transmission. Essential services are maintained and quarantine measures are currently unnecessary. To help similar organizations, strategies are listed along three themes: sustaining essential services, preventing infection, and managing human and consumable resources.

Barriers to infection prevention and control practice among Amhara region teaching hospitals in Ethiopia: Qualitative study

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Walelegn Worku Yallew ◽  
Abera Kumie ◽  
Feleke Moges Yehuala
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Worker ◽  
Prevention And Control ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Infection Prevention ◽  
Teaching Hospitals ◽  
Infection Prevention And Control ◽  
Amhara Region ◽  
Implementation Barriers ◽  
Control Practice ◽  
And Control

Healthcare workers have good perception towards infection prevention, but there has been a poor practice towards it. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore barriers to practice of infection prevention and control practice in teaching hospitals in Amhara region. A phenomenological approach used to explore the lived experience of healthcare workers and management staffs towards infection prevention practice and control. The data was collected from ten in-depth interviews and 23 focus group discussion participants, by face to face interview using open ended interview performed in safe and quiet places. Data was managed using OpenCode software version 4.03 and contents were analyzed thematically. Totally ten different barriers were identified, such as availability of facilities, shortage of material supply, lack of maintenance of facilities and equipment, high patient flow, experience, emergency situation, healthcare worker behaviour and healthcare worker’s information about infection prevention, low awareness of patients and visitors and overflow of families and visitors to the hospital. For effective infection prevention practice implementation, barriers should be considered via identifying specific organizational, healthcare worker, patients and visitors as targets.

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