Journal of Patient Safety and Infection Control

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To limit the spread of coronavirus, most of the countries had applied lockdown, restricting movement of people, ban on public transport and air travel. The World Health Organization (WHO) advises against the application of travel or trade restrictions in countries experiencing COVID-19 outbreaks for a longer period of time. These lockdowns should be short in duration and be regularly reviewed as the situation evolves. After lockdown, most of the countries have started airline services again, but society in general is sceptical about safety of air travel and the spread of disease in the present COVID time. Aircraft appears to be airtight chamber with passengers sitting very close to each other, so people get worried about getting infection from fellow travellers. Unfortunately, most of the regulations are on chemical contaminants in the flight cabin but are silent on bacteriological, viral and other microbial contamination of air in the cabin. Still, it has been observed that the risk of infection in flight is comparable to train and car and might be much lesser. To maintain air quality, airplanes have High-Efficiency Particulate Air filters which can capture 99.9% of particles (bacteria, fungi and larger viruses or virus clumps) of 0.1–0.3 μm in diameter. Low concentrations of bacteria and fungi have been found in air cabin at levels that are not thought to pose any health risk. Air is replaced with fresh air every 2–4 min in the aircraft. Besides that, ventilation systems on planes are set up in zones; air is shared between a small group of people only. Although the risk of catching something, airborne on a plane is lower than in many other confined spaces because of the filters and air exchange ratio but risk of infection through contact is still possible, so if a person fly observe contact precautions, for example, hand hygiene and use face cover.

The coronavirus disease 2019, the first case of India surfaced in Kerala. Hence, an exploration of knowledge of medical professionals regarding transmission and steps adopted for prevention and spread of disease was assessed via a cross-sectional study, designed and disseminated through media. The study revealed no significant difference in knowledge score based on district, age and medical discipline. However, majority of the participants lacked basic knowledge and opted social media to update knowledge, which pinpoints towards the need for online training courses in newer disaeses.

Background: Infection prevention and control (IPC) is the key component to curtail the spread of infections and combating rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) amongst bacteria. Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAPs) for IPC amongst nurses. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, multicentric, hospital-based survey was conducted on 328 nurses from January to November 2018 using a self-administered questionnaire from public and private quaternary-, tertiary- and secondary-level hospitals. Results: The overall score for infection control practices was low, with knowledge score being 51%, attitude 73% and good practices score 57%. The gaps were identified across all components with major gaps in the knowledge of care of devices (74%), barrier nursing/isolation precautions (60%), indications of using hand rub (55%), understanding the meaning of healthcare-associated infections, AMR (50%) and optimum use of personnel protective equipment (44%). In attitude and practices, injection safety emerged as the weakest area, with >40% of nurses being neither aware nor practicing the correct techniques of reconstituting, administering injectable medicines and maintaining asepsis. Conclusion: There is an urgent need of rigorous, regular, restructured, standardised training programmes focussing on the weak areas for nurses in healthcare settings. Training programmes need supervision and provision of enabling environment in healthcare settings to facilitate the implementation of evidence-based IPC guidelines.

The current COVID-19 pandemic has created a havoc with rapidly increasing morbidity and mortality rates globally. To tide over the current circumstances, it is imperative that novel vaccines are developed at the earliest. Development of a novel vaccine against SARS-Co-V-2 seems to be a daunting task at the moment. We will have to wait at least for a year before any such vaccine enters the global market. Issues pertaining to vaccine efficacy and safety remain unanswered at the moment. We are hopeful that the ongoing research on this mysterious virus will unearth valuable information in the days to come, which will help us develop most suitable treatment options and vaccine platforms respectively.

Evolution of new viruses and their spread across continents are worrisome due to high mortality rates. One of the greatest advantages of handling epidemics and pandemics of H1N1 is the existing global preparedness, public awareness and vaccine availability for this virus. Media and health departments of various countries play a pivotal role in disseminating knowledge as soon as an outbreak is suspected. Currently, H1N1 is easily detectable and controllable compared to other types of Influenza viruses, therefore reducing the anxiety among the public as well as health-care workers. This review would give a comprehensive understanding of clinical manifestations, diagnostic strategies and infection control practices, which should be followed to effectively manage outbreaks of H1N1.

Online since 25^th November, 2016