Basic Documentation

Siemens Industry, Inc. Page 3 of 12
Document No. 149-903
Direct Contact
Direct contact transmission occurs when
microorganisms are transferred directly from one
person to another person. Examples of direct
contact transmission in healthcare settings include:
 Blood from a patient directly enters a caregiver’s
body through a cut in the skin.
 Scabies mites from a patient are transferred to
the skin of a caregiver while he/she is lifting the
patient.
 Herpetic whitlows that develop on a healthcare
provider’s finger after contact with Herpes
simplex virus when providing oral care to a
patient without using gloves or transmitting HSV
to a patient from a herpetic whitlow on an
ungloved hand of a healthcare worker.
Direct contact transmission is more efficient than
indirect contact transmission, but occurs less
frequently in healthcare settings than does indirect
contact transmission. Transmission by direct contact
occurs more frequently between patients and
healthcare personnel than between patients.
Disease is more likely to develop following direct
contact transmission when the pathogen is highly
virulent or has a low infectious dose or the patient or
healthcare worker is immunocompromised.
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Design Requirements for
Healthcare Facilities
Airborne Infection Isolation
Airborne Infection Isolation (AII) is intended to
protect healthcare workers and visitors from
contracting a patient’s disease mainly via aerosol
and moisture droplet transmission. Most notably this
includes TB, but also includes other diseases that
are susceptible to aerosol transmission.
2. Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee
(HICPAC), 2004, Guideline for Isolation Precautions:
Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare
Settings, p. 12
Infection Isolation Room Layout–An infection
isolation patient room is to be designed for only one
patient
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. Although designed as single patient rooms,
facilities may also need to accommodate larger
numbers of patients if a disease outbreak occurs
(such as SARS) or subsequent to a biological
terrorist attack. Cohorting is the practice of grouping
patients with the same infection or colonization with
the same multi drug resistant organism (MDRO)
together to confine their care to one area and
prevent contact with other patients. This is not a
primary prevention strategy due to the logistical
difficulties encountered and the frequent lack of
microbiologic data to determine infection or
colonization status, especially in Long Term Care
Facilities. Cohorts are created based on clinical
diagnosis, microbiologic confirmation when
available, epidemiology, and mode of transmission
of the infectious agent. Criteria for including a patient
in a cohort include 1) the patient is not infected with
other potentially transmissible microorganisms; 2)
the likelihood of reinfection with the same organism
is minimal; and 3) the patient is not severely
immunocompromised.
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3. AIA Guidelines, 2006 Section 3.2.2.3, p. 43
4. HICPAC, 2004, Guideline for Isolation Precautions:
Preventing Transmission of Infectious Agents in Healthcare
Settings, p. 46