SHEA publishes infectious disease outbreak guidelines for hospitals

The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America created an outbreak response guidance for epidemiologists working in acute care hospitals. The guidelines, developed with support from the CDC, were published Thursday in the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

The new guidance outlines how epidemiologists can leverage federal and institutional emergency response structures to optimize their hospital's preparedness to combat outbreaks of infectious diseases like Zika, Ebola and pandemic influenza.

"This guidance details the role of the healthcare epidemiologist as an expert and leader supporting hospitals in preparing for, stopping and recovering from infectious diseases crises," said David Banach, MD, a hospital epidemiologist at Farmington, Conn.-based UConn Health and an author of the new guidance. "Armed with the resources to develop and support key activities, healthcare epidemiologists can utilize their skills and expertise in investigation and response to infectious disease outbreaks within a hospital's incident command system."

To read the new guidance, click here

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