QUARANTINE

It is the separation of persons suffering from communicable disease or carriers.


Quarantine – Quarantine is voluntary or compulsory isolation, typically to contain the spread of something considered dangerous, often but not always disease. The word comes from the Italian (seventeenth century Venetian) language Italian quarantena, meaning forty day period. It is the limitation of freedom or movement of a well-person who had contact with the carrier during longest incubation period.

ISOLATION PRECAUION:
1. Standard Precautions are the primary tool for the successful control of hospitalacquired infections. Standard Precautions are those precautions designed for the care of all patients' regardless of their diagnosis or presumed infection status. These Precautions replace the old system of "Universal Precautions" and apply to the following body substances – blood, body fluids, secretions, excretions, mucous membrane and non-intact skin.

There are several important components of Standard Precautions with the most important being good handwashing. Hands should be washed thoroughly with an antimicrobial soap before and after patient care. When gloves are worn, they should be removed before leaving the patient's room and hands washed. Never leave the patient's room while still wearing gloves. Disease causing germs adhere well to glove surfaces and can then be carried to the next patient or medical equipment touched. A second important component of Standard Precautions is the wearing of protective attire to prevent direct contact with a patient's blood or body fluids. Gloves, gown, and protective eyewear are provided by the Hospitals and can be found in all patient care areas in personal protective equipment cabinets.

2. Transmission Based Precaution:
Droplet Precautions are required for patients known or suspected to have the following illnesses transmitted by large particle droplets. Droplet Precautions are intended to prevent transmission of pathogens spread through close respiratory or mucous membrane contact with respiratory secretions.