Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) during the influenza season 2018/2019: a possible alternative to single room isolation for respiratory viral infections

Birrer, Michèle; Perrig, Martin; Hobi, Fabienne; Gfeller, Christina; Atkinson, Andrew; Egger, Martin; Bartholdi, Corinne; Aujesky, Drahomir; Marschall, Jonas; Sommerstein, Rami (2022). Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) during the influenza season 2018/2019: a possible alternative to single room isolation for respiratory viral infections. Antimicrobial resistance and infection control, 11(1), p. 2. BioMed Central 10.1186/s13756-021-01038-y

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Background: The guideline-driven and widely implemented single room isolation strategy for respiratory viral infections (RVI) such as influenza or respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can lead to a shortage of available hospital beds. We discuss our experience with the introduction of droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) as a possible alternative.

Methods: During the 2018/19 influenza season we introduced DroPS on several wards of a single tertiary care center, while other wards maintained the traditional single room isolation strategy. On a daily basis, we evaluated patients for the development of respiratory symptoms and screened those with a clinical diagnosis of hospital-acquired respiratory viral infection (HARVI) for influenza/RSV by molecular rapid test. If negative, it was followed by a multiplex respiratory virus PCR. We report the concept of DroPS, the feasibility of the strategy and the rate of microbiologically confirmed HARVI with influenza or RSV infection on the DroPS wards compared to wards using the traditional single room isolation strategy.

Results: We evaluated all hospitalised patients at risk for a HARVI, 741 (72%) on the DroPS wards and 293 (28%) on the regular wards. The hospital-acquired infection rate with influenza or RSV was 2/741 (0.3%; 1× influenza A, 1× RSV) on the DroPS wards and 2/293 (0.7%; 2× influenza A) on the regular wards.

Conclusions: Droplet precautions on-site (DroPS) may be a simple and potentially resource-saving alternative to the standard single room isolation strategy for respiratory viral infections. Further studies in a larger clinical context are needed to document its safety.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Haematology, Oncology, Infectious Diseases, Laboratory Medicine and Hospital Pharmacy (DOLS) > Clinic of Infectiology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of General Internal Medicine (DAIM) > Clinic of General Internal Medicine > Centre of Competence for General Internal Medicine

UniBE Contributor:

Birrer, Michèle Andrea, Perrig, Martin, Hobi, Fabienne, Gfeller-Aerschmann, Christina, Atkinson, Andrew David, Aujesky, Drahomir, Marschall, Jonas, Sommerstein, Rami

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

2047-2994

Publisher:

BioMed Central

Language:

English

Submitter:

Annelies Luginbühl

Date Deposited:

19 Jan 2022 11:23

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 16:03

Publisher DOI:

10.1186/s13756-021-01038-y

PubMed ID:

35000584

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/164338

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/164338

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