Swine Flu – Useful guidelines

30 April 2009

In the case of an outbreak of Swine Flu in Australia and New Zealand, the Australian Department of Health and Ageing has released information and appropriate infection control procedures.

General public

The Australian Government has provided information and standard infection control procedures for members of the general public. The following links below discuss what Swine Flu is and how individuals can practice appropriate infection control.

• Australia Government – Department of Health and Ageing

Other Useful Information on Swine Flu and Infection Control Procedures

• Swine Influenza (Flu) [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]
• Swine Influenza and You – Q&A [CDC]
• Flyer on Swine Flu [PDF, 2 pages, 3.32 MB]
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Swine influenza questions and answers [WHO]

Members of the Healthcare Profession

In the case of an outbreak of respiratory illness like Swine Flu in Australia and New Zealand, appropriate infection control procedures should be in place in all health care facilities.

The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have recommended strict adherence to standard and additional precautions designed for health care facilities caring for patients with known or suspected Swine Flu. The links below address infection control procedures that should be followed as recommended by these organisations.

Kimberly-Clark has developed a guide “Pandemic Preparedness: A Guide for Healthcare Facilities” [PDF, 19 pages, 1.22 MB] to provide an overview of some of the elements your facility should consider as part of your pandemic plan, for more information, please contact your Kimberly-Clark Sales Representative; they will be able to lead you through the tool based on the specific needs of your facility.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

The CDC interim recommendations for dealing with patients with suspected or known Swine Flu recommend the following Guidance for Clinicians & Public Health Professionals [CDC].

From the Guidance, the following precautions are recommended:

Standard precautions

• Pay careful attention to hand hygiene before and after all patient contact or contact with items potentially contaminated with respiratory secretions.

Contact precautions

• Use gloves and gowns for all patient contact.
• Use dedicated equipment such as stethoscopes, disposable blood pressure cuffs, disposable thermometers, etc.

Airborne precautions

• Place patient in an airborne isolation room.
• Use a fit tested N95 respirator approved by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Interim Recommendations for Facemask and Respirator Use [CDC]

Eye protection

• Wear safety glasses or visors.

The Australian Government has made similar recommendations for personal protective equipment and hand washing procedures. For more information please refer to Preparing for pandemic influenza on the Department of Health and Ageing website.

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