CDC Updates and Posts Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices

The CDC has reviewed and updated Core Infection Prevention and Control Practices for Safe Healthcare Delivery in All Settings and posted it on the CDC Infection Prevention and Control website. This guidance document was originally compiled by the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) and posted on the HICPAC website in 2014, but is now adopted as CDC fundamental standards of care. The update added two new practices in Category 5, Standard Precautions:

• 5c. Injection and Medication Safety: Prepare medications in a designated clean medication preparation area that is separated from potential sources of contamination, including sinks or other water sources.  AND
• 5e. Minimizing Potential Exposure:  Develop and implement systems for early detection and management of potentially infectious persons at initial points of patient encounter in outpatient settings and at the time of admission to hospitals and long-term care facilities.

Also added to 5e is the addition of broader use of source control during periods of higher levels of community respiratory virus transmission:

• During periods of higher levels of community respiratory virus transmission, facilities should consider having everyone mask upon entry to the facility to ensure better adherence to respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette for those who might be infectious. Such an approach could be implemented facility-wide or targeted toward higher risk areas (e.g., emergency departments, urgent care, units experiencing an outbreak) based on a facility risk assessment.