Melisa Avaness is an Infection Prevention and Control Coordinator at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

At dinner parties, is your job often misunderstood?

A lot of people wonder what my job entails, and it’s a lot of things. Infection control coordinators assess hospitalized patients every day who are on additional precautions for various communicable diseases to see if those need to continue. We give advice to different departments about infection prevention questions they have, and some coordinators are also involved in research, analyzing data and outbreak management, just to name a few. I think the pandemic has increased the understanding about what I do.

Knowing what you know, how do you live in a world full of germs?

It makes it easier because I have the knowledge to do a risk assessment of certain situations, and that reduces my anxiety. Let’s say I’m in the grocery store and I don’t have an antibacterial wipe for the cart. I know there is likely contamination but I should be OK if I don’t touch my hands to my eyes, nose or mouth. Knowledge is power!

Are you constantly thinking about risk?

It’s not always on my mind, but I’d say it’s become second nature to assess the room and make the right decision.

Do you avoid touching doorknobs and similar surfaces?

No, I use my hands to open doors every day. It’s the same logic as shopping carts: it’s a given they are dirty so I wash or sanitize my hands.

What’s the one thing you do that might surprise people?

There is a poster from Public Health Ontario that’s commonly seen in public washrooms. It’s a series of graphics on how to wash your hands properly to reach all the spots that are commonly missed. I have that image embedded in my brain! In my mind, I go through each step thoroughly whenever I wash my hands.

Do you have a favourite soap?

Soaps at the hospital have to meet certain safety specifications. At home, I do like scented soaps because they do the job and also smell good! My favourite scent is rosewater.

What are your thoughts on the five-second rule?

It depends where it lands!

The post How to live like the experts: Staying healthy in a germ-filled world with Melisa Avaness appeared first on Your Health Matters.

Natasha Salt, Sunnybrook’s director of Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC), talks about misconceptions surrounding public health measures for those who are vaccinated, post-vaccine transmission, and why it’s not the time (yet) to let our guard down.

Can I change my COVID-19 prevention practices after I’ve been vaccinated?

No. Not at all, actually.

Right now, we’re still learning a lot about how the vaccine will reshape our routines. We do know that it is highly effective in preventing or reducing symptoms in those who are vaccinated (as high as 95 per cent). However, at this time, not enough people have recovered and/or been vaccinated to stop ongoing spread. Even though we may be vaccinated, we can still come in contact with COVID and pass it to others, all while never showing signs or symptoms of an infection. As there is still a lot of COVID circulating in the community, it remains important to clean your hands, physically distance, wear your mask and limit your gatherings to your household.

So, I can still spread COVID-19, even if I’m vaccinated?

Absolutely.

I’m fully vaccinated. Technically, I’m one of these people that could be saying, “I am ready to let my guard down.” And sure, maybe my risk — my personal risk of infection — has been reduced substantially. I may or may not develop any symptoms at all if in contact with COVID virus. However, my hands, nose and mouth may come in contact with live virus from an infected person and I can still pass this on to others if I don’t clean my hands or contain my secretions. For this reason, we want to continue to protect ourselves and others by maintaining the same public health prevention measures.

What if I’m vaccinated and hanging out with other vaccinated people? Is that OK?

Hang tight, we are currently riding the third wave of the pandemic and getting together, vaccinated or not, is still not permitted. We are still learning about how much the COVID-19 vaccine will impact transmission.

So, I can still get COVID-19 if I’m vaccinated, but I won’t get as sick?

Exactly. Because I’m vaccinated, my immune system would be kicking into full gear as soon as it’s exposed to the live virus. So, the chances of it multiplying into numbers that make me sick or very infectious to others is pretty low.

If I can still get and spread COVID-19 after getting vaccinated, what’s the point in getting vaccinated?

The more people we have vaccinated or recovered from infection, the sooner we’re going to get out of this pandemic. And more importantly, what everyone is waiting for, public health measures will start to scale back. That’s the real goal here, returning to normal.

When will we be able to slow down with the measures and be able to live “normally”?

If I am being cautiously optimistic, I hope that we will have a quiet summer, but it’s hard to predict when we will return to normal. All pandemics run their course within a couple of years, and so will COVID-19. Vaccine will get us there sooner, with each day closer.

What would you say to people to compel them to continue following public health guidelines?

It’s been a long and arduous triathlon that we didn’t sign up for! Don’t fail me now, team. Decrease your chances of reaching the finish line COVID-19 free by continuing to clean your hands, wear a mask, physically distance and only leave home for essential purposes.

The post Got your COVID-19 vaccine? What you need to know about infection prevention after getting vaccinated appeared first on Your Health Matters.

October 17-21 is National Infection Prevention and Control Week. To mark the occasion, we decided to learn more about what exactly infection prevention and control is, and how important it is in a hospital environment. We asked Natasha Salt, Interim Director, Infection Prevention and Control at Sunnybrook, to answer a few questions below:

What does an infection control professional do, and who are they?

We are dedicated to preventing and controlling the transmission of healthcare associated infections to patients, clients, residents, healthcare workers, visitors and others.

Our team is made up of diverse individuals with backgrounds ranging from nursing, epidemiology, public health, health sciences, physicians and microbiology laboratory technologists who are Certified Infection Control practitioners. We are part of your healthcare team and work diligently to prevent health-care associated infections.

What does infection prevention and control look like at Sunnybrook?

At Sunnybrook, Infection Prevention and Control is responsible for administering programming for our Hospital, Long-Term Care and Rehabilitation facilities. We promote best practices in infection control to ensure the safety of our patients/clients/residents, visitors and staff.

Preventing healthcare associated infections is a high priority, and we work alongside healthcare teams to ensure all measures are taken to reduce infections and prevent transmission. Our staff members are actively involved in providing information to healthcare workers, patients and visitors on how to reduce the risk of infections through education, audits, surveillance, posters, pamphlets and other tools.

Why is infection prevention and control so important in a hospital environment?

Healthcare-acquired infections are one of the most common complications of health care. They are a significant patient safety issue, and can also be an Occupational Health and Safety issue. A well-functioning Infection Prevention and Control program helps minimize these risks for our patients, residents, visitors and our staff.

What do you enjoy most about your job?

Infection prevention and control has multiple roles within an organization and is embedded in all areas. A sample of the work we do includes: providing education to patients and staff members, investigations of infections or outbreaks, prevention of infections through activities such as monitoring hand hygiene or auditing practices, construction planning for new buildings or renovation of existing spaces and research. The diversity of the role keeps the job very interesting and gives us a wide-ranging skill set.

What is a common misconception that people have about infection prevention and control?

People believe that gloves alone can prevent the transmission of infection, but they are not an appropriate substitute for proper hand hygiene using alcohol-based hand antiseptics or soap and water. Gloves provide a barrier during contact with a patient but they cannot, by themselves, prevent the transmission of organisms that can cause an infection. Proper hand washing/antisepsis is the only way to prevent the transmission of organisms, and this needs to be done before and after using gloves.

The post Just how important is infection prevention and control? appeared first on Your Health Matters.