Infection Prevention and Control refers to evidence based practices and procedures that when

applied consistently in health care settings can reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms
to health care workers ,patients , attendants , and the community at large.

IPC is practiced at two main levels , by observing any of the two below:

1. Standard precautions.

2. Additional transmission based precautions.

Standard precautions: these refer to work practices that are applied to all patients receiving
care in health facilities, regardless of their diagnosis or presumed infectious status so as to
minimize the risk of transmission of infectious agents in all situations.

Standard precautions minimize the likelihood of transmission of infectious agents between

Health Care Workers and patients, and from patient to patient.

Transmission-based precautions are precautions required to be taken based on the route of

transmission of organisms .

Some of the standard infection control precautions include;

 Hand hygiene.
 Personal hygiene.
 Respiratory hygiene (cough etiquette).
 Instrument hygiene.
 Environmental cleaning and disinfection.
 Linen and laundry hygiene.
 The use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
 Safe management of sharps and wastes.

Additional precautions are categorized into three types:

 Airborne precautions.

 Droplet precautions.

 Contact precautions.

These precautions are designed to reduce the risk of transmission of microorganisms from both
recognized and non-recognized sources.

Hand hygiene . When visibly soiled with a 0.05% chlorine solution or else by using soap and
clean water. If hands are not visibly soiled, use atleast a 70% alcohol based hand rub.

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Personal hygiene involves cleanliness and care of the whole body, including short and clean
nails, short or pinned up hair, appropriate clean clothing (uniforms), and no jewelry on the hands.

Respiratory hygiene involves covering the mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing to
prevent the spread of respiratory droplets by using either a face mask, a medical mask or else a
surgical mask. This must be followed by hand hygiene when removing the mask.

Instrument hygiene. Bucket 1 with soapy water to remove organic matter.Bucket 2 with clean
water. Bucket 3 containing a 0.5% chlorine solution . Bucket 4 containing clean water to rinse
the instruments before drying and autoclaving.

Environmental cleaning and disinfection, facility hygiene. Clean before you disinfect your
tables, chairs , beds with a 0.5% chlorine solution . Clean from clean to dirty areas. Change
chlorine solution every 24hours .

Safe handling of contaminated linens and laundry. Collect and place used linens such as
clothing and bed sheets in bags or containers. Prevent direct contact between a linen and your
skin and mucous membranes by using appropriate personal protective equipment. Contaminated
ones must be disinfected with a 0.5% chlorine solution . Wash with soap and boil for 20 minutes.

Use of personal protective equipment appropriately. These are specialized clothing and
equipment such as gloves, masks, googles and glasses, face shields and gowns, gum boots to
protect health care workers and patients from infection.

Safe handling of sharps involves using sharps containers. Fill it to three-quarters , applying safe
injection practices and proper transport to incinerator.

Lastly, safe waste disposal involves minimizing , segregating according to the degree of
infection ,collecting in colour code bin , safe transportation , storing , treating and disposing by
trained infection prevention and control team.

These standard infection control precautions should be applied to all patients at all times,
regardless of their diagnosis or infectious status.

For patients known or suspected to be infected with highly transmissible pathogens,

additional precautions should be implemented.

Airborne precautions are designed to prevent the transmission of pathogens that can be spread
through the air, particularly those that are smaller than 5 microns in size.

Examples of such pathogens include measles, chickenpox, and tuberculosis.

 To implement airborne precautions, the patient should be placed in a well-ventilated

room with the door closed, and the air should be discharged outdoors.

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  Health care workers entering the room should use appropriate respirators with high
filtration power.
 Limiting contacts, such as visitors, is also important.
 If the patient needs to leave the room, they should wear a surgical mask.
 Adherence to cough etiquette by the patient, such as covering the mouth and nose when
coughing or sneezing, is crucial.
 In certain settings, negative air pressure can be created to further prevent the spread of
airborne pathogens.

Droplet precautions are intended to prevent the transmission of pathogens that are spread
through respiratory droplets released by talking, sneezing, or coughing.

Examples of pathogens that require droplet precautions include Hemophilus influenza, Neisseria
meningitis, and certain viruses like corona virus.

 To implement droplet precautions, the patient should be placed in a well-ventilated room

or kept at least 2 meters away from other patients.
 Health care workers within 2 meters of the patient should wear a mask.
 The patient should also wear a mask when moving around.
 Closed doors and negative air pressure are not necessary for droplet precautions.

Contact precautions aim to reduce the transmission of organisms from an infected or colonized
patient through direct or indirect contact.

This applies to microorganisms such as HIV, hepatitis B, and multi-drug resistant bacteria like
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Contact precautions include :

 Wearing gloves and gowns when entering the patient's room and removing them before
leaving.
 Proper hand hygiene should be practiced.
 Equipment used for the patient should be dedicated or thoroughly cleaned and disinfected
between uses.

Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

It refers to the preventive treatment given to individuals who have been accidentally exposed to
potentially infectious materials, such as blood or body fluids, during medical procedures.

It is a crucial measure to reduce the risk of transmission of certain infections, particularly HIV
and hepatitis B.

Immunization against hepatitis B is strongly recommended for healthcare workers as an

effective protection measure. However, in the event of an accidental exposure, PEP is an
additional step taken to further reduce the risk of infection.

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REFERENCES .

 Ministry of Health Uganda ,Uganda National Infection Prevention and Control

Guidelines, 2013 edition.

 Ministry of Health Uganda, Uganda National Treatment Guideline for Corona virus
disease , April 2020 edition.

 WHO. Health care-associated infections, Fact Sheet (https://www.who.int/gpsc/ country

work/gpsc ccisc fact sheet en.pdf, accessed 12th November, 2023).

 WHO. International Health Regulations (2005), Third edition. Geneva: WHO; 2016. 7.
United Nations Development Programme. Sustainable Development Goals, Goal 6: clean
water and sanitation
(https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable development-goals/goal-6-
clean-water-and-sanitation.html, accessed 12th November, 2023).

 WHO. Guidelines on Core Components of Infection Prevention and Control Programmes

at the National and Acute Health Care Facility Level. Geneva: WHO; 2016 (https://www.
who.int/gpsc/core-components.pdf, accessed 10th November, 2023).

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