Infection Control Precautions
for In Home Care





Infection control for swine flu requires attention to details. Use this home version of universal precautions to protect your family from pandemic flu infection.

Hand washing is just the beginning...

If you worked in a hospital and had a patient that was placed in isolation because of a very contagious disease, everyone who entered the patient's room would have to follow what is known as universal precautions, which is just another name for infection control.

For infection control, dispose of tissues properly. Photo by ooOJasonOoo.

Dispose of tissues properly.
Photo courtesy of ooOJasonOoo.

The steps for infection precautions are very specific, and, whether you are a nurses' aide who takes a pitcher of water to the patient, a doctor, or a cleaning lady, you must follow each step carefully. Failure to do so, could result in your getting sick or your passing a nasty disease on to others.

How Swine Flu is Spread

The same is true for infection control for the novel H1N1 , or swine flu . This flu virus is easily spread, and your best chances of preventing it are sanitation, starting with hand washing .

Understanding that the virus is spread in one of two ways will help you understand why you take these steps and help you remember to sanitize surfaces to kill germs and to put a barrier between you and the swine flu virus . The virus is spread by:

  • Droplets of saliva in the air. These virus filled little drops of saliva get into the air when a sick person coughs, sneezes or breathes. Simply coming into contact with them can expose you to the virus. You get the flu virus by breathing in some of the droplets.

  • Virus germs on contaminated surfaces. Swine flu virus germs can live on surfaces of silverware, dishes, bathrooms, clothing, etc. for hours (or longer). A sick person leaves virus germs behind wherever he goes. If you touch a surface or object contaminated with H1N1 virus and then touch your eyes, nose or mouth, you can get the swine flu too.



Universal Precautions
for In Home Care

If you follow these infection precautions procedures, you will greatly reduce the chances of infecting other members of your family and of getting the swine flu virus yourself.

Flu prevention for

in home care for a patient is more challenging than just taking someone to the doctor or hospital.

Isolate the Patient
The patient should be in a room, the “sick room” that is separate from the healthy members of the family. If the sick person is placed in a room away from other family members, he will not contaminate surfaces that other family members use.

Caregiver precautions for Infection Control
1)When going into the patient’s room to care for him, wear a mask, glasses or goggles and vinyl or latex gloves. Use new gloves and and a new mask each time you go into the room. In many countries, masks are in short supply.

The CDC recently relaxed their recommendation on this and said that you could use a mask more than once, being careful how you handle it.

2)Keep a pair of slip on shoes or slippers just outside the patient’s door. These will be worn in the “sick room” ONLY and thrown away after the pandemic flu crisis passes.

3)Use a bathrobe or some sort of cover that is easy to put on and take off as a “lab coat” or protection for your clothing. Remove it when you leave the sick room. Perhaps you could hang a nail or hook just inside the “sick room” so that you can easily put it on when you are caring for the patient.

Technically you should use a clean “cover-up” each time you go into the sick room and you should throw it away when you leave. I realize that this is not practical, so do the best that you can. Wash your “cover up” daily, or, at least, frequently.

4)Keep a trash can at the door to dispose of any used or soiled items. This is where you’ll throw the used gloves and masks.

5)Door knobs are a very common source of contamination. Here’s how you can avoid passing the virus in this way: Use your contaminated glove to open the inside knob (inside the sick room), and then remove your gloves and throw them into the trash can outside the sick room. Then close the door with your hand. That way the outside door knob should stay “clean”.

As part of your infection control procedures, dispose of the trash outside the room frequently. Remember that it can be a source of flu virus germs .

Clean or Dirty
In a hospital setting, one side of the hall outside the patient’s room would be the “clean side” and the other side of the hall would be the “dirty side”. Items (like shoes) don’t go back and forth between “clean” and “dirty”. You need to be very careful about this.

Just as hospitals are able to control the spread of disease, you can initiate infection control in your home and prevent members of your family from getting sick from each other during a flu pandemic .

Granted, this is not easy in a home setting, but it can be done. And, if you keep just one or two of your family members from getting the pandemic flu, it will be worth it!



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