Health-care workers should 'go back to basics' to prevent spread of diseases like coronavirus, says expert
Dr. Trish Perl was on the front lines for SARS, says good hygiene efforts will help cut transmission rates
A world-renowned infectious disease expert reminded Manitoba health-care workers Tuesday that they can dramatically cut the spread of infectious diseases, such as the coronavirus, by following simple hygiene practices.
"It doesn't really require some of the dramatic pictures we've been seeing out there," said Dr. Trish Perl. "We can go back to basics."
Perl spoke to more than 100 health-care professionals on Tuesday morning at the University of Manitoba's Bannatyne Campus. Staff from other hospitals, including St. Boniface Hospital, Concordia Hospital and rural centres joined the lecture via video-conference.
Perl looked back at health-care data from the SARS outbreak of 2002-2003 and cases of MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), another coronavirus which first appeared in Jordan in 2012.
This coronavirus, which was given the official name COVID-19 Tuesday by the World Health Organization, is something new to Perl, who was on the front lines of both SARS and MERS.
"This has been a very dramatic, stunning outbreak in terms of the doubling time and it's required all hands on deck," she said.
Hygiene efforts can go a long way
Perl said if health-care workers combine several different hygiene practices — frequent hand washing, disinfecting hospital rooms and wearing gloves, gowns and masks — they can cut infection transmission rates by 91 per cent.
"That's pretty good. That's more than some of our immunizations," she said during the lecture.
Staff with the University of Manitoba's section of infectious diseases said they invited Dr. Perl to speak months ago, and the timing worked out that she could come talk now about the coronavirus.
The province says the risk of Manitobans contracting the virus is still low. Since January, health-care providers have been asked to report people who have recently travelled to China and are now experiencing respiratory problems to the province.
Ten people in Manitoba had been tested as of Feb. 5, but none tested positive for the coronavirus. The province says more recent numbers will be released this week.
Since Manitoba's chief medical officer of health last spoke to media on Friday, the screening criteria in the province has expanded to include mainland China and the Hubei province, said a provincial spokesperson, adding that "the situation continues to evolve."
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization reported that the death toll in mainland China from the virus has reached 1,017, with 42,708 reported cases in the country where the outbreak began.
There are 393 cases outside China, with one coronavirus-related death reported outside the country, the WHO said.
Perl said she thinks researchers could be doing more to fight the latest coronavirus, such as getting onboard the quarantined cruise ships and studying transmission patterns of the illness.
But she acknowledges people are working hard worldwide to curb the virus's spread, just as they did with SARS and MERS.
"We've done this twice in the past 20 years. We know how to abort this virus."
Tips for health-care workers
Dr. Perl offered a few simple tips for health-care workers to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases:
1. Wash your hands frequently.
"Whether you use alcohol, hand rub, soap and water, it reduces transmission by 50 per cent. Very simple."
2. Clean surfaces.
"These viruses can actually land on surfaces and can survive for variable parts of time. So just do what your mom taught you to do, and clean those surfaces."
3. Wear a mask.
"When we do certain kinds of procedures that can actually make these particles go a little further, we can use respirators, which are tight-fitting masks."
4. Cover your face.
"Because you have a tendency to touch your eyes and your mouth, wear goggles or face shields."
5. Put on gowns and gloves.
This is important not just "because some stuff gets on your clothes," Perl said, but also because "it's been shown that if we're wearing gowns and gloves, you're more likely to wash your hands."
6. Follow protocol.
"If we see people who have been to China and are having respiratory symptoms, we're going to be getting them out of those waiting rooms and into private rooms, so we can assess them properly," Perl said.
"We live in a global community. We need to start taking travel history. It's as important as vital signs."
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