April 14, 2021

🦠 Are You Taking Full Advantage of Ohio AAP’s Infection Control Resources & Education?

Ohio AAP is teaming up with AAP and the CDC to stop the spread of infectious disease threats—including COVID-19 through education, resources and social media. Anyone working in a healthcare facility needs a foundational knowledge of infection control and must understand and be ready to implement infection control protocols and procedures throughout their work day, including during every patient care activity and healthcare interaction.

If you couldn’t attend our kick-off webinar on March 19, please click the following link to request a copy of the recording: http://oldsite.ohioaap.org/pflreg. This webinar covers the basics of infection transmission, recognizing risk in your daily work, using PPE safely and much more! Please pass this link along to anyone who may be interested.

How COVID-19 Spreads: A Review

The main way that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, travels between people is through respiratory droplets in our breath.

  • How easily a virus spreads from person to person can vary. The virus that causes COVID-19 appears to spread more efficiently than influenza but not as efficiently as measles, which is among the most contagious viruses known to affect people.
  • People who are physically near (within 6 feet) a person with COVID-19 or have direct contact with that person are at greatest risk of infection.
  • When people with COVID-19 cough, sneeze, sing, talk, or breathe they produce respiratory droplets. These droplets can range in size from larger droplets (some of which are visible) to smaller droplets. Small droplets can also form particles when they dry very quickly in the airstream.
  • Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets when a person is in close contact with someone who has COVID-19.
  • Respiratory droplets cause infection when they are inhaled or deposited on mucous membranes, such as those that line the inside of the nose and mouth.
  • As the respiratory droplets travel further from the person with COVID-19, the concentration of these droplets decreases. Larger droplets fall out of the air due to gravity. Smaller droplets and particles spread apart in the air.
  • With passing time, the amount of infectious virus in respiratory droplets also decreases.

Another way you can get sick with COVID-19 is if you touch something that has live SARS-CoV-2 virus on it, and then touch your face without cleaning your hands first.

  • Respiratory droplets can also land on surfaces and objects. It is possible that a person could get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or eyes.
  • Spread from touching surfaces is not thought to be a common way that COVID-19 spread.

For more information, please view Project Firstline’s video entitled “How Does COVID-19 Spread?” https://www.cdc.gov/wcms/video/low-res/infectioncontrol/2021/59855985EP7-Review-HiRes.mp4

Additional Project Firstline resources available to you here: https://www.cdc.gov/infectioncontrol/projectfirstline/resources.html


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Ohio AAP Practice Manager Discussion Board - Disclaimer

This page is for practice managers and office employees to discuss issues they’re experiencing in their practices. Many problems that we hear about can help other practices, so we invite you to share best practices by posting issues and by responding to issues other practices are experiencing. This page is monitored by the Ohio AAP. Advice and opinions expressed on these discussion boards are the views of the poster and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ohio AAP. If you have any issues, questions, or feedback, please contact Melanie Farkas.