Prevention of respiratory outbreaks in the rehabilitation setting

Corpus, Carla; Williams, Victoria; Salt, Natasha; Agnihotri, Tanya; Morgan, Wendy; Robinson, Lawrence; Maze Dit Mieusement, Lorraine; Cobbam, Sonja; Leis, Jerome A

Nosocomial transmission of respiratory viruses (RVs) can lead to unanticipated complications for patients during their contact with the healthcare system. In rehabilitation facilities, these outbreaks jeopardise patient safety, interfere with patient rehabilitation goals and cause unit closures that impede patient flow in referring facilities. 1 2 Multicomponent infection prevention and control (IPAC) strategies including hand hygiene, early symptom identification, transmission-based precautions, use of personal protective equipment by healthcare personnel and environmental cleaning, can be successful in preventing nosocomial transmission of RVs. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] Despite this, adherence to these best practices is frequently suboptimal and RV outbreaks in healthcare remain a common yet preventable occurrence. At our rehabilitation institution in Toronto, Canada, we experienced frequent RV outbreaks every season despite continued efforts to educate healthcare providers about best IPAC practices.