Infection Control Guidelines for Healthcare Settings

Immediate Triage and Screening Protocol

The World Health Organization recommends immediate binary triage screening to separate potentially infectious patients from other patients before entering common waiting areas, which should include screening for fever, respiratory symptoms, and epidemiological risk factors for infectious disease 1
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggests establishing a dedicated single isolation room with direct external access for initial assessment of suspected infectious patients 1
Patients presenting with fever, respiratory symptoms, or recent travel or exposure history should be screened at the entrance and placed in a dedicated area for further evaluation, according to the World Health Organization 2, 1
The CDC recommends placing a surgical mask on any patient with respiratory symptoms immediately upon identification, regardless of suspected diagnosis, to prevent droplet transmission 3, 1

The American College of Surgeons recommends that healthcare workers wear appropriate PPE based on the suspected mode of transmission before any contact with potentially infectious patients, including gloves, gowns, and eye protection 3, 6
The CDC suggests performing hand hygiene with alcohol-based hand rub before and after all patient contacts, and using soap and water when hands are visibly soiled with body fluids 7, 8
The World Health Organization recommends wearing gloves for any contact with blood, body fluids, or contaminated surfaces, and wearing a surgical mask when within 1-2 meters of the patient 3, 5

The World Health Organization recommends performing rapid diagnostic testing at the point of triage to guide isolation decisions and prevent nosocomial transmission, including RT-PCR nasopharyngeal swab for patients with fever and respiratory symptoms 2, 1
The CDC suggests obtaining baseline chest imaging (CT scan preferred, chest X-ray or lung ultrasound if CT unavailable) for suspected COVID-19 patients, and treating patients as infectious and implementing full precautions if diagnostic results are unavailable and clinical suspicion is high 2, 1

The CDC recommends isolating confirmed or suspected infectious patients in single rooms with dedicated bathrooms to prevent transmission, and placing patients with multidrug-resistant organisms in single rooms whenever possible 7, 11, 9
The World Health Organization suggests cohorting patients infected with the same multidrug-resistant organism strain in designated areas, and considering cohorting dedicated staff to care for cohorted patients to reduce transmission risk 7, 11, 9

The CDC recommends implementing rigorous environmental cleaning protocols with appropriate disinfectants and monitoring compliance through regular audits, including cleaning contaminated surfaces with detergent followed by 1:100 dilution of household bleach or EPA-approved disinfectant 7, 11, 8
The World Health Organization suggests disinfecting all surfaces and electromedical devices after each procedure involving infectious patients, and performing environmental sampling of surfaces during outbreaks to identify contamination 4, 11, 9

The American College of Surgeons recommends conducting mandatory educational programs for all staff on infection control principles, proper PPE use, and hand hygiene techniques, including training on proper donning and doffing procedures with supervised practice 7, 11, 8
The CDC suggests ensuring healthcare workers understand the epidemiological importance of infectious organisms and effective prevention measures, and providing training on proper hand hygiene techniques, including the use of alcohol-based hand rub and soap and water 11, 8

The World Health Organization recommends establishing administrative support with dedicated resources for infection prevention and control infrastructure, including providing adequate economic and human resources for infection prevention programs 8
The CDC suggests implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs to restrict inappropriate antibiotic use and reduce selection pressure for resistant organisms, and reviewing antibiotic prescribing patterns regularly and providing feedback to prescribers 7, 11, 8