What are you bringing home–helping the healthcare worker protect their family from disease, information and advice

Health care-associated infections are a common problem globally. Health care workers (HCW) and patients are at high risk of acquiring the infections, and also transmitting the infections. Most studies identified risks of doctors and nurses with direct contact with patients but not many study concentrate on the risk of HCW with indirect contact with patients, especially environmental services staffs/housekeeping staffs. These workers are in contact with the patients indirectly, and have been overlooked in the risk assessment. These workers, in addition to the doctors and nurses may act as reservoir and transmit the disease to their family members, spreading the infections unknowingly. Most of the infections are transferred through contact, direct and/or indirect, from surfaces contaminated with the microorganisms. This presentation will highlight the mode of transmission from the obvious surfaces such as patient’s table to the less obvious mode such as the air in the room of an infected patient after/during house-keeping. This presentation will also identify the most vulnerable family members and provide a step-by-step guide that HCWs and/or patients can follow to prevent them from bringing infections back to their household. Journal of Microbiology, Immunology and Infection. 2015 Apr 1;48(2):S72-3.