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CDC updates Ebola care guidelines

October 21, 2014
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Disease Ebola Health care worker safety Health care workers Infection control Nurses Personal protective equipment
Ebola

Photo: Fuse/Thinkstock

Atlanta – Following two cases in which U.S. nurses were infected with Ebola, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has tightened its infection-control guidelines for health care workers.

Released Oct. 20, the new guidelines focus on three principles:

  1. Training: Health care providers should repeatedly practice using personal protective equipment, including putting it on and taking it off.
  2. Zero skin exposure: Ebola is spread via direct contact with the body fluids of an infected person. To help prevent health care providers from contracting the disease, CDC is expanding its previous list of recommended PPE to include coveralls and single-use disposable hoods. Previously recommended PPE includes gloves, boot covers, respirators and faceshields. Goggles are no longer recommended.
  3. Supervision: To help ensure health care workers properly put on and take off PPE, a trained observer should be on hand to spot any missteps and correct them.

The updated guidelines come a week after the National Nurses United called for higher standards to protect health care workers from contracting Ebola.