What are the hospital infection control measures for a patient diagnosed with Influenza A (H1N1) virus?

From the Guidelines

Influenza A (H1N1) hospital infection control measures should include isolating patients in private rooms with Standard and Droplet Precautions, requiring healthcare personnel to wear surgical or procedure masks, nonsterile gloves, and nonsterile gowns, and implementing cough etiquette and hand hygiene practices.

Key Infection Control Measures

• Isolate patients in private rooms with doors kept closed, or cohort them with other confirmed H1N1 patients if private rooms are not available 1
• Implement Standard and Droplet Precautions, including the use of surgical or procedure masks, nonsterile gloves, and nonsterile gowns for healthcare personnel 1
• Encourage cough etiquette, such as providing masks for patients who are coughing and sneezing, and promoting hand hygiene practices 1
• Limit visitor access and require healthy visitors to wear personal protective equipment, including surgical masks and gloves 1
• Ensure staff training in personal protective equipment (PPE) use, including fit-testing for N95 respirators, and provide adequate supplies of PPE 1

Additional Considerations

• Consider using negative pressure isolation rooms with adequate ventilation facilities to reduce the risk of airborne pathogen transmission 1
• Prepare formal reassurance plans for legal protection and provide assistance to staff working outside their normal domains 1
• Maintain standard measures for hand hygiene, surface cleaning, and environmental cleaning to reduce the risk of disease transmission 1

From the Research

Hospital Infection Control Measures for Influenza A (H1N1) Virus

• The most effective individual strategies for controlling influenza transmission in hospitals include:
  • Hand-washing (11%-27% reduction in cases) 2
  • Health-care worker vaccination (6%-19% reduction in cases) 2
  • Prevaccination of patients (4%-17% reduction in cases) 2
  • Patient isolation (5%-16% reduction in cases) 2
  • Antiviral treatment (4%-14% reduction in cases) 2
  • Use of face masks (3%-10% reduction in cases) 2
• Infection control measures that can be implemented in hospitals to prevent the spread of Influenza A (H1N1) virus include:
  • Isolating patients who display symptoms indicative of influenza 3
  • Using surgical masks (P2 [N95]) by the infected person 3
  • Frequent hand-washing 3
  • Appropriate cough and sneeze etiquette 3
  • Disposal of used tissues 3
  • Rescheduling of non-urgent appointments for those thought to be infected 3
• Disinfection and cleaning of medical equipment, surgical instruments, and hospital environment are important measures to prevent transmission of influenza virus from hospitals to individuals 4
• Effective disinfectants for inactivating Influenza A virus H1N1 include:
  • 70% ethanol 4
  • 70% 1-propanol 4
  • Solvent/detergent using 0.3% tri (n-butyl)-phosphate and 1.0% Triton X-100 4
  • 0.1 mol/L NaOH 4
  • Heat treatment at 70,80, and 90 degrees C 4
  • Ethylene oxide (EO) treatment 4
• Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) may be a simple and potentially resource-saving alternative to the standard single room isolation strategy for respiratory viral infections, including Influenza A (H1N1) virus 5
• Compliance with infection control measures for pandemic influenza appears to vary widely depending on the setting, with reported compliance ranging from 25.3% to 96.4% for wearing masks with indirect or direct patient contact 6