Infection control precautions for visitors to healthcare facilities

Banach, David; Bearman, Gonzalo; Morgan, Daniel J.; Munoz-Price, L. Silvia

doi:10.1586/14787210.2015.1068119

Cited by 34 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…However, global experience does indicate that MERS is predominantly a nosocomially acquired infection, 18 so restrictions on visitors are likely to play a key role in controlling MERS. 23 Immediately after the MERS outbreak in South Korea, many researchers reported various problems with the South Korean Government's MERS control measures. It was reported that South Korea's MERS outbreak was caused by poor hospital infection control standards and lack of monitoring close contacts, which was also the case in Saudi Arabia.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, 2015: epidemiology, characteristics and public health implications

Kim

Tandi

Choi

et al. 2017

Journal of Hospital Infection

268

242

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Beginning with the index case that infected 28 others, an in-depth analysis was conducted. The average age was 55 years, which was a little higher than the global average of 50 years. As in most other countries, more men than women were affected. The case fatality rate was 19.9%, which was lower than the global rate of 38.7% and the rate in Saudi Arabia (36.5%). In total, 184 patients were infected nosocomially and there were no community-acquired infections. The main underlying diseases were respiratory diseases, cancer and hypertension. The main contributors to the outbreak were late diagnosis, quarantine failure of 'super spreaders', familial care-giving and visiting, non-disclosure by patients, poor communication by the South Korean Government, inadequate hospital infection management, and 'doctor shopping'. The outbreak was entirely nosocomial, and was largely attributable to infection management and policy failures, rather than biomedical factors.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, 2015: epidemiology, characteristics and public health implications

Kim

Tandi

Choi

et al. 2017

Journal of Hospital Infection

268

242

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…20 Otherwise, the infection control precautions for visitors are very important. [21][22][23] Since the government of Taiwan issued the rule that people need to put on a mask when entering any medical facility, 24 we assumed that all the people in Taiwan knew the rule, including visitors. Most of the hospitals also mentioned other common infection control measures for visitors, including rules pertaining to TOCC history taking, body temperature monitoring, hand hygiene, and identity checks.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hospital visiting policies in the time of coronavirus disease 2019: A nationwide website survey in Taiwan

Liu

Hsu

Lin

et al. 2020

Journal of the Chinese Medical Association

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Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious coronavirus disease, has become a worldwide pandemic. Infection control precautions for hospital visitors are needed to avoid cluster outbreaks, so this study investigated the visiting policies of all the hospitals in Taiwan in the time of COVID-19. Methods: From March 15, 2020, to March 18, 2020, we searched the official websites of all 472 National Health Insurancecontracted hospitals to determine their visiting policies. For those hospitals that had posted new visiting policies and still allowed visits to ordinary wards, we recorded the relevant details shown on their websites, including the number of visitors allowed at one time, the number of visiting slots per day, the total visiting hours per day, and the rules provided to visitors before visiting. Results: During the study period, 276 (58.5%) hospitals had posted new visiting policies on their websites, with higher proportions of academic medical centers (92.0%, 23/25) and metropolitan hospitals (91.5%, 75/82) than local community hospitals (48.8%, 178/365) doing so. Visits to ordinary wards were forbidden in 83 hospitals among those. Among the 193 hospitals that had new visiting policies and still allowed visits to ordinary wards, 73.1% (n = 141) restricted visitors to two at a time and 54.9% (n = 106) restricted visits to two visiting slots per day. Furthermore, history taking regarding travel, occupation, contacts, and cluster information was mentioned by 82.4% (n = 159) of these 193 hospitals, body temperature monitoring by 78.2% (n = 151), hand hygiene by 63.2% (n = 122), and identity checks by 51.8% (n = 100). Conclusion: In the time of COVID-19 covered by this study, about three-fifths of the hospitals in Taiwan had posted their visiting policies for ordinary wards on their websites. Furthermore, the thoroughness with which such visiting policies have been enforced also requires investigation.

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“…Studies indicate that social distancing is particularly useful for delaying and broadening the peak of an epidemic until a vaccine is available, thereby reducing pressure on health services [20]. Visitors are also viewed as potential vectors in pathogen transmission in both healthcare facilities and communities during outbreaks of respiratory pathogens [21,22]. Theoretically, a restricted visiting policy might be an effective way to protect vulnerable populations, such as the elderly and those with underlying chronic or life-limiting medical conditions, from poor outcomes of COVID-19.…”

Section: Features Of Visiting Policies At Hospice Wardsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Visiting Policies of Hospice Wards during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Environmental Scan in Taiwan

Hsu

Liu

Lin

et al. 2020

IJERPH

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During an epidemic, almost all healthcare facilities restrict the visiting of patients to prevent disease transmission. For hospices with terminally ill patients, the trade-off between compassion and infection control becomes a difficult decision. This study aimed to survey the changes in visiting policy for all 76 hospice wards in Taiwan during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The altered visiting policies were assessed by the number of visitors per patient allowed at one time, the daily number of visiting slots, the number of hours open daily, and requisites for hospice ward entry. The differences in visiting policies between hospice wards and ordinary wards were also investigated. Data were collected by reviewing the official website of each hospital and were supplemented by phone calls in cases where no information was posted on the website. One quarter (n = 20) of hospice wards had different visiting policies to those of ordinary wards in the same hospital. Only one hospice ward operated an open policy, and in contrast, nine (11.8%) stopped visits entirely. Among the 67 hospice wards that allowed visiting, at most, two visitors at one time per patient were allowed in 46 (68.6%), one visiting time daily was allowed in 32 (47.8%), one hour of visiting per day was allowed in 29 (43.3%), and checking of identity and travel history was carried out in 12 wards (17.9%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all hospice wards in Taiwan changed their visiting policies, but the degree of restriction varied. Further studies could measure the impacts of visiting policy changes on patients and healthcare professionals.

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Infection control precautions for visitors to healthcare facilities

Cited by 34 publications

References 22 publications

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, 2015: epidemiology, characteristics and public health implications

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) outbreak in South Korea, 2015: epidemiology, characteristics and public health implications

Hospital visiting policies in the time of coronavirus disease 2019: A nationwide website survey in Taiwan

Visiting Policies of Hospice Wards during the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Environmental Scan in Taiwan

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