Bioterrorism Watch: APIC - Smallpox plan uses outdated infection control

APIC: Smallpox plan uses outdated infection control

Designating patient facilities a mistake

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has based its smallpox bioterrorism response plan on "outdated concepts," and entire sections need to be revised to reflect current epidemiologic strategies, the nation’s leading group of infection control experts warned. The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) commented on the CDC Interim Smallpox Response Plan and Guidelines, which has been released as something of a work in progress.

"In general, we are concerned that the draft guidelines appear to be based on outdated strategies used to control this disease decades ago and do not appropriately integrate those infection control strategies and environmental controls utilized in our hospitals today," the APIC letter stated.

The CDC response plan calls for investigators to rapidly immunize a "ring" around the first cases. The ring concept uses isolation of confirmed and suspected smallpox cases followed by contact tracing, vaccination, and close surveillance of contacts. The ring approach was used to successfully eradicate smallpox from the world in 1980. But the ring concept was effective when the demographics of smallpox were very different, when few were infected, and the vast majority of people already were immune.

As part of the ring response, vaccine would be administered to people involved in the direct medical care, public health evaluation, or transportation of confirmed or suspected smallpox patients.

"Vaccination, like any preventive strategy, is more effective if given prior to exposure," APIC argued. "If health care workers are not immunized prior to case identification, these individuals [especially emergency department staff, direct caregivers, and laundry personnel] should be vaccinated immediately upon documentation of a case in their community. It is crucial that we not wait for a case to present in the facility before taking preventative action."

In addition, it may not be possible to distinguish between febrile response to vaccine or actual exposure in health care workers, APIC warned.

"Approximately 20% of vaccinated employees will develop fever and not be able to work if vaccine is given in response to a suspect or confirmed case," the association stated. "We need to develop strategies for dealing with staffing shortages whether they are due to febrile reaction to vaccination, true infection/disease, or refusal to care for patients in a smallpox emergency."

Misuse of resources’

APIC also questioned the CDC concept of a "Type C isolation facility" for smallpox patients. As proposed, the sites would be facilities that are at least 100 yards from any other occupied building, or those that have nonshared air-ventilation systems with filtered exhaust.

"We believe it would be a misuse of resources to design, build/retrofit, and maintain a designated facility that is not integrated with the existing health care system," APIC stated. "Using alternative structures rather than enhancing the current infrastructure is not a wise use of our limited resources."

Instead, existing facilities could substantially benefit from dedicating resources to ensuring appropriate air handling and ventilation systems for existing clinics, emergency departments, and isolation rooms. "This would provide the added benefit of controlling more likely exposures to infectious droplet nuclei [tuberculosis, disseminated zoster, chicken pox, measles, etc.] in addition to minimizing or eliminating the likelihood of intrafacility transmission of smallpox," APIC stated.

The association expressed concern that health care delivery might be compromised in separate Type C facilities, particularly if they are not designed to provide services such as intensive care, ventilator support, dialysis, and laboratory resources. Rather then designate facilities for smallpox patients, each hospital should be prepared in advance to activate its program when the first case is identified, APIC argued.

"There needs to be a predetermined area [building or wing, etc.] that meets the Type C’ facility requirements for isolation," APIC noted. "Part of a facility’s planning would include a determination regarding the number of patients that could be housed in the designated area."

Some of the cleaning and disinfection recommendations in the document are out of date with current sterilization principles and practices. That includes "fogging" rooms to disinfect environmental surfaces, the association charged.

"CDC has not recommended the fogging of rooms for many years," APIC stated. "We strongly suggest the deletion of any archaic references to fogging."