SHEA Guidelines and Expert Guidance Documents

The scope of a healthcare institution’s infection prevention and control/healthcare epidemiology program (IPC/HE) should be driven by the size and complexity of the patient population served, that population’s risk for healthcare-associated infection (HAI), and local, state, and national regulatory and accreditation requirements. Essential activities of all IPC/HE programs are reviewed in this white paper.

Authors: Kristina A. Bryant, Anthony D. Harris, Carolyn V. Gould, Eve Humphreys, Tammy Lundstrom, Denise M. Murphy, Russell Olmsted, Shannon Oriola and Danielle Zerr

Reviewed: November 2018

https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2015.333

This SHEA expert guidance provides general guidance to the medical community regarding the management of animals in healthcare based on analysis of the medical literature regarding risks and evidence for animal-to-human transmission of pathogens in the healthcare setting, along with the potential benefits of animal-assisted activities in healthcare, review of hospital policies related to animals in healthcare, and a SHEA Research Network survey assessing institutional policies. It offers specific guidance for acute care hospitals and ambulatory care facilities to develop or modify policies related to animals based on their role (i.e., animal-assisted activities, service animals, research animals, and personal pet visitation). It is not intended to guide the management of animals in other healthcare facilities such as assisted living, nursing homes, or extended-care facilities.

Authors: Murthy R, Bearman G, Brown S, Bryant K, Chinn R, Hewlett A, George BG, Goldstein EJC, Holzmann-Pazgal G, Rupp ME, Wiemken T, Weese JS, Weber DJ

Reviewed: April 2019

http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/ice.2015.15

Animals in Healthcare Facilities GUIDELINES Pocket Guide

This SHEA guideline is the first infection prevention and control guideline to address preventing transmission of infectious agents in “home away from home” residential settings, of which the Ronald McDonald Houses (RMHs) serve as a prototype. Pediatric patients are frequent guests of the family-centered facilities while receiving or recovering from specialized medical therapy. Examples of high-risk populations served in these facilities include families of patients with cancer, recipients of stem cell or solid organ transplants, surgical and/or very-low-birthweight infants who receive care in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), those with cystic fibrosis, and women with high-risk pregnancies awaiting.

Authors: Guzman-Cottrill JA, Ravin KA, Bryant KA, Zerr DM, Kociolek L, Siegel JD

https://doi.org/10.1086/673141

This SHEA guideline provides recommendations for disinfection and sterilization of medical instruments in order to prevent Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease (CJD), a degenerative neurologic disorder caused by a proteinaceous infectious agent. Prion diseases elicit no immune response, result in a noninflammatory pathologic process confined to the central nervous system, have an incubation period of years, and usually are fatal within 1 year after diagnosis.

Authors: Rutala WA, Weber DJ

Reviewed: 2014

https://doi.org/10.1086/650197

This SHEA/APIC guideline provides recommendations for prevention and control of infections in long-term care facilities, including UTIs, respiratory tract infections, skin and soft-tissue infections and infestations, gastrointestinal infections, infections caused by antibiotic-resistant organisms, and epidemic infections. It also reviews the structure and elements of infection control programs in the long-term care setting, regulatory considerations, education, and surveillance.

Authors: Bratzler D, Dellinger EP, Olsen K, Perl T, Autwaerter P, Bolon M, Fish D, Napolitano L, Sawyer R, Slain D, Steinberg J, Weinstein R

https://doi.org/10.1086/592416