Impact of the Systematic Performance of the SCIH in Monitoring Precautions and Isolation in the Face of the Pandemic Scenario

Background

One of the attributions of the Hospital Infection Control Service (SCIH) is to ensure that the precautions and isolation applicable to the suspicion attributed to the patient are applied, according to transmission routes: contact, droplets, and aerosols. These precautions must be effectively instituted to ensure the non-transmission of microorganisms between patients and healthcare professionals. Due the pandemic scenario, the SCIH starts the daily active monitoring of isolation patients, having the precautions extended, altered, or suspended, when necessary, based in institutionally defined criteria. Evaluate and validate the maintenance of precautions instituted by the care team, adapting them, when necessary, in a general private hospital in São Paulo/Brazil.

Methods

The SCIH monitored daily the precautions applied to patients in the inpatient and intensive care units through the health management software from February (Feb) to November (Nov) 2021. The precautions monitored by units were computed and after evaluation by the SCIH were tabulated and recorded in an Excel spreadsheet.

Results

The SCIH evaluated 8011 patients in isolation during the period (Feb/Nov 2021). Before this period, the non-compliance rate of the precautions monitored weekly was 14.7% (mean 85.3% compliance) and the intra-hospital transmission of COVID-19 was 0.16% (5 cases per 40170 patient days in non-COVID-19 units). After validation was instituted for daily, a non-compliance rate dropped to 3.5% (mean 96.5% compliance) and intra-hospital transmission dropped to 0.02% (2 cases per 58801 patient days in non-COVID-19 units).

Conclusions

The evaluation and validation of precautions and isolations by the SCIH is essential in preventing the cross-transmission of microorganisms. Increasing the frequency of this monitoring and involvement of the care team is essential to ensure patient safety in the institution, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic period.