CDC releases updated Ebola treatment guidance

After two nurses at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas were infected with Ebola while treating a patient with the virus, the CDC released stricter infection control guidelines for healthcare workers focused on personal protective equipment (PPE).

 

The CDC’s updated guidelines make the following recommendations when caring for a patient with Ebola:

·         All healthcare workers undergo rigorous training and are practiced and competent with PPE, including putting it on and taking it off in a systemic manner

·         No skin exposure when PPE is worn

·         All workers are supervised by a trained monitor who watches each worker putting PPE on and taking it off

 

The updated guidelines are modeled on those used recently by Emory University Hospital, Nebraska Medical Center, and the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center to treat patients with Ebola. No healthcare workers at these facilities have contracted Ebola.