Editing Infection Control and Safety (section)

== Reporting, Surveillance, and Outbreak Response ==

Infection prevention programs use surveillance data to detect clusters, calculate device-associated infection rates per 1,000 device days, audit hand hygiene compliance, and drive improvement. Public health law requires reporting of designated communicable diseases, which vary by state but typically include tuberculosis, measles, pertussis, meningococcal disease, hepatitis A and B and C, HIV, foodborne illnesses, and any suspected outbreak.

'''Steps in an initial outbreak response:'''

# Confirm the cases and verify the diagnosis; define a case.
# Notify infection prevention and, when required, the health department.
# Institute appropriate transmission-based precautions immediately and reinforce hand hygiene.
# Cohort affected patients and, when feasible, cohort the staff caring for them; avoid floating staff between affected and unaffected units.
# Identify the common exposure by describing cases in terms of person, place, and time (an epidemic curve and a line list).
# Intensify environmental cleaning with an agent effective against the organism, and evaluate shared equipment, water, and product sources.
# Restrict ill staff from work per policy, and offer prophylaxis or vaccination when indicated.
# Educate staff, patients, and visitors and evaluate the effect of the interventions on the case rate.