05.06.2014 Views

Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

Pandemic Influenza Plan - Questar III

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Section 8: Travel-Related Disease Control and Community Prevention<br />

The purpose of isolation and quarantine is to reduce influenza transmission by separating<br />

infected persons from uninfected persons, exposed persons from non-exposed persons,<br />

and monitoring exposed persons for symptoms and providing medical care and infection<br />

control precautions as soon as symptoms are detected. Case isolation and quarantine and<br />

monitoring of exposed persons may be accomplished by various arrangements (e.g.,<br />

home isolation or quarantine, isolation or quarantine in a designated facility, etc.).<br />

Case isolation will be valuable during all phases of pandemic influenza. Guidance for the<br />

care of an ill person who does not require hospitalization and is isolated at home,<br />

including infection control, can be found in Section 4: Infection Control, and Section 5:<br />

Clinical Guidelines. Isolation conducted in healthcare settings is discussed in these same<br />

sections. Home-based and alternate facility-based isolation and quarantine is discussed<br />

below.<br />

The home is generally the preferred setting for isolation and quarantine, but alternative<br />

sites for isolation and quarantine may be necessary in certain situations. For example,<br />

persons who do not have a home suitable for this purpose or those who require isolation<br />

or quarantine away from home (e.g., during travel or homeless) will need to be housed in<br />

an alternative location. Special isolation facilities and staffing should be identified in<br />

advance and be available to operate beginning in the late pandemic alert period and<br />

throughout the pandemic phase. Quarantine facilities and staffing should be identified in<br />

advance and will be needed during the late pandemic alert period and early in the<br />

pandemic phase.<br />

A home/facility checklist to assess the suitability of a home or facility for isolation and<br />

quarantine is in Appendix 8-A. Necessary support services for the home and for isolation<br />

and quarantine facilities are described below in Part C – Community Support.<br />

Monitoring of cases isolated at home or in a special facility and monitoring of contacts<br />

quarantined at home or in a special facility will be needed during the late pandemic alert<br />

period and early in the pandemic phase. When the pandemic becomes widespread, public<br />

health monitoring of cases and quarantined persons will no longer be justified.<br />

NYSDOH, in consultation with federal health authorities, will advise LHDs regarding<br />

when individual case management of persons in isolation and quarantine is warranted.<br />

Detailed guidance for the identification and management of contacts, including<br />

quarantine, appears in Appendix 8-B, along with a contact record form (Appendix 8-C)<br />

and daily log of temperature and symptoms (Appendix 8-D). A tracking form for<br />

following up with contacts is provided in Appendix 8-E. Quarantine should be coupled<br />

with monitoring of exposed persons for symptoms and provision of medical care and<br />

infection control precautions as soon as symptoms are detected. <strong>Plan</strong>s should be<br />

developed for instances requiring the enforcement of isolation and quarantine measures.<br />

Contacts of influenza patients can be managed by various interventions designed to<br />

facilitate early recognition of illness in persons at greatest risk of becoming infected and<br />

thereby prevent transmission to others. Measures applied to individuals may not be<br />

feasible or effective during the <strong>Pandemic</strong> Period, when tracing and quarantining of close<br />

February 7, 2006 8-5

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!