precautions taken under smallpox answer in 200 to 300 words
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Answer:
There are a variety of controls that should be implemented in order to protect workers from exposure to smallpox. Workers that may be affected, either during regular work activities or during an emergency response, include, but are not limited to, emergency responders, healthcare workers, laboratory personnel, and others. The Smallpox Disease and Smallpox as a Bioweapon sections of this Safety and Health Topics Page provide extensive information on the hazards associated with smallpox and applicable controls. Additional guidance specific to various types of workers, and associated issues on recognizing and controlling exposure to smallpox is provided in the following sections.
What personal protective equipment (PPE) should emergency responders use when responding to a potential bio-attack involving smallpox? How should workers decontaminate themselves if they think they have been exposed to smallpox?
In a covert attack involving aerosolized smallpox, there would be no emergency response activity involving emergency responders. The first evidence that a potential attack had occurred would be diagnosis of the disease among exposed individuals, which would happen several days after the actual release. However, it is possible that emergency responders would be required to respond to a bio-attack incident, such as notification regarding an aerosol dissemination device or other suspicious release. The following references provide additional information regarding PPE, decontamination, and other precautions for emergency responders to consider during such an incident.
Interim Recommendations for the Selection and Use of Protective Clothing and Respirators Against Biological Agents. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Contains PPE guidance for emergency responders, including information on decontamination.
Healthcare Workers, Mortuary Workers, and Others
What personal protective equipment (PPE), infection control, and related precautions should healthcare workers use when treating patients with smallpox?
National infection control guidelines prescribe specific precautions to be taken when treating patients with known or suspected smallpox. These precautions include "Standard", "Droplet", "Airborne", and "Contact" Precautions, under certain circumstances. Patient isolation and similar precautions may also be necessary. The following references provide detailed information regarding infection control procedures for smallpox.
OSHA Best Practices for Hospital-Based First Receivers of Victims. OSHA, (January 2005). Provides hospitals with practical information to assist them in developing and implementing emergency management plans that address the protection of hospital-based emergency department personnel during the receipt of contaminated victims from mass casualty incidents occurring at locations other than the hospital. Among other topics, it covers victim decontamination, PPE, employee training, and also includes several informational appendices.
Bioterrorism Readiness Plan: A Template for Healthcare Facilities. Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), (April 13, 1999). Provides information on infection control, patient treatment, post-exposure management, decontamination, prophylaxis, and laboratory procedures. Specific information on smallpox is contained in Section II, pp. 23-26.
Henderson, Donald A. and Inglesby, Thomas V., et al. "Smallpox as a Biological Weapon: Medical and Public Health Management." Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 281.22(June 9, 1999): 2281-2290. Considers the prospect of an aerosol release of variola virus, and provides information on epidemiology, infection signs and symptoms, diagnosis and monitoring, vaccination, medical treatment, infection control, environmental decontamination, and more.
Medical Management of Biological Casualties Handbook, Seventh Edition. U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), (September 2011). Contains specific information on a number of potential bioterrorist agents.
What precautions are necessary when handling the bodies of patients who have died from smallpox?
Similar infection control precautions, as listed previously for live individuals, should be implemented for the post-mortem care of smallpox patients. These precautions apply to all workers performing post-mortem procedures on smallpox patients, including healthcare workers, morticians, forensic personnel, or others.