American journal of infection control
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Am J Infect Control · Aug 2020
Environmental contamination by SARS-CoV-2 in a designated hospital for coronavirus disease 2019.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is characterized by risk of nosocomial transmission; however, the extent of environmental contamination and its potential contribution of environmental contamination to SARS-CoV-2 transmission are poorly understood. This study aimed to investigate whether environmental contamination may play a role in SARS-CoV-2 transmission. ⋯ Most of the touchable surfaces in the designated hospital for COVID-19 were heavily contaminated, suggesting that the environment is a potential medium of disease transmission. These results emphasize the need for strict environmental surface hygiene practices and enhanced hand hygiene to prevent the spread of the virus.
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Am J Infect Control · Aug 2020
Identifying potential undocumented COVID-19 using publicly reported influenza-like-illness and laboratory-confirmed influenza disease in the United States: An approach to syndromic surveillance?
In the absence of widespread testing, syndromic surveillance approaches may be useful for understanding potential undocumented coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the United States. We used publicly available data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention FluView Interactive to evaluate its potential for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance. Unlike the prior 3 influenza seasons, we found a 76% decrease in influenza positive tests and a 27% increase in influenza like illness during the weeks since COVID-19 outbreaks began in the United States, which suggests FluView's potential utility for COVID-19 syndromic surveillance.
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Am J Infect Control · Aug 2020
ReviewInfection control practices in children during COVID-19 pandemic: Differences from adults.
Limited studies have been published on practices and management of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in children. Despite the fact that COVID-19 rarely caused any severe disease in children, the asymptomatic children might be playing an important role for spreading COVID-19 in healthcare facilities. This review aimed at sharing our experience of how to handle patients with COVID-19 in a pediatric referral and tertiary care hospital to prevent the possible transmissions to the healthcare workers (HCWs). ⋯ Infection control precautions to prevent the possible transmissions to HCWs as well as the other patients and their caregivers from children with COVID-19 are very critical. If sufficient precautions are not taken, healthcare settings may serve as additional source of transmission and spread of COVID-19 in the society.
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Am J Infect Control · Aug 2020
Pretreated household materials carry similar filtration protection against pathogens when compared with surgical masks.
The past 4 months, the emergence and spread of novel 2019 SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19) has led to a global pandemic which is rapidly depleting supplies of personal protective equipment worldwide. There are currently over 1.6 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide which has resulted in more the 100,000 deaths. As these numbers grow daily, hospitals are being forced to reuse surgical masks in hopes of conserving their dwindling supply. Since COVID-19 will most likely have effects that last for many months, our nationwide shortage of masks poses a long term issue that must be addressed immediately. ⋯ We believe this method will allow for healthcare workers to create a disposable added layer of protection to their surgical masks, N95s, or homemade masks by using household available products. Adoption of this method may play an essential role in ensuring the safety of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic and any pandemics that may arise in the future.