Understanding Infection Control in Home Healthcare

Infection control in home healthcare is a critical part of healthcare systems, especially when care is provided outside of hospitals. Healthcare employees and caregivers must understand its components and adapt them in the home environment. This article gives a comprehensive overview of what an infection is, how it spreads via an infection chain, and how infection control strategies help save lives.

What is an infection?

An infection occurs when germs, in the form of bacteria, viruses, yeast, or fungi, invade and grow in the body. Infections are quite common, and for most healthy individuals, the risk of acquiring disease from them is low. However, in settings where there are immunocompromised people, infections can cause health complications.

What is a healthcare-associated infection (HAI)?

When patients get infections during or immediately after receiving care at a healthcare facility, they get healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). HAIs are also referred to as nosocomial infections. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that about 1 in 31 hospital patients have at least one HAI each day.

HAIs can happen in any healthcare facility, including hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, end-stage renal disease facilities, and long-term care facilities.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, HAIs can cause serious, life-threatening conditions that can happen within the following periods:

• 48 hours of arrival or hospital admission
• 3 days after discharge from a hospital or surgical center
• 30 days of a surgical procedure

The chain of infection

As healthcare professionals, it’s our duty to reduce the risk of infections and keep patients and fellow healthcare employees safe and healthy. To do that, we must understand how infections spread or the chain of infection.

The chain of infection is how an infection spreads from one person to another via a “chain” or a set of interconnected components that illustrate how a communicable disease spreads. The chain of infection has six components:

1. Infectious agent: A microorganism that can cause an infection that can make a person ill, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi.
2. Reservoir: The environment wherein a pathogen can live and multiply. Examples: Environmental surfaces, medical equipment, bodily fluids, food and water, soil, skin, animals and insects, and the respiratory tract.
3. Portal of exit: How a pathogen exits the reservoir. Portals of exit can be skin to skin, skin to surface, blood, mucous membranes, oral cavity, or feces.
4. Mode of transmission: The way in which a pathogen moves from a reservoir to a susceptible host. There are two modes of transmission, namely direct and indirect. The direct mode of transmission includes airborne, droplets, contact, bite, needlestick, or other sharps injuries. Meanwhile, indirect transmission includes fomites, which are contaminated equipment, medication, vectors, food, and water.
5. The portal of entry: Refers to how an infection enters a susceptible host. Typical portals of entry include incisions, wounds, and body openings such as the mouth, eyes, urinary tract, and the respiratory tract.
6. Susceptible host: Refers to an at-risk person who is unable to fight the infection. This could be a patient, a healthcare worker, a staff member, or a visitor. The factors that can affect a person’s susceptibility include age, health, comorbidities, immune system, nutrition, infective dose, and medications.

Infection Control Procedures for Home Caregivers

Infection control procedures for home caregivers are essential for protecting patients receiving care in residential settings. These procedures include strict hand hygiene, safe disposal of contaminated materials, surface disinfection, and proper use of gloves and masks. Following these steps helps prevent the spread of infections and ensures that both caregivers and patients remain healthy.

In the home healthcare setting, infection control also involves environmental cleaning, maintaining ventilation, and ensuring that reusable medical equipment is properly sanitized between uses.

What is infection control and how does it save lives?

Infection control is the manner of preventing the spread of infections in healthcare settings and minimizing the risk of infection transmission. According to the CDC, infection control has two tiers of recommended precautions:

• Standard Precautions: The minimum infection prevention practices that apply to all patient care, including hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette, and the use of PPE.
• Transmissions-based Precautions: The second tier of basic infection prevention and control strategies that are applied in addition to Standard Precautions. These precautions include contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.

When applied effectively and consistently in healthcare settings, infection control can protect vulnerable patients from contracting illnesses and developing complications, reducing hospital stays by reducing HAIs, improving healthcare staff safety and productivity, and bolstering patient safety and trust.

By implementing infection control procedures for home caregivers and healthcare organizations, communities can safeguard the health and well-being of patients, healthcare workers, and families receiving care at home.