Ounce of Prevention: Don’t Visit Hospital Patients When Sick

GREENFIELD — As fall arrives and concerns about the flu continue to mount, knowing how to protect yourself and others from contagious diseases can go a long way toward increasing peace of mind as well as public health and safety. Greater awareness of precautions is particularly crucial in the hospital setting, as people who are already sick may be much more vulnerable to complications from diseases like the flu.

“The best thing you can do for a friend or family member who is in the hospital, as well as all our other patients, is to stay home if you’re sick,” said Dr. Jacques Blanchet, medical director of the Emergency Department at Baystate Franklin Medical Center. “If you’re not feeling well, especially if you’re coughing or sneezing, or have a fever, then bringing your sickness into the hospital puts many others at risk.”

Influenza activity picks up in the fall every year. This year, the prevalence of H1N1 influenza (‘swine flu’) may have an additional impact on the flu season. But it’s impossible to predict exactly how influenza virus will affect area communities. Regardless of the flu season’s course, hospital policies for infection control are designed to help keep patients, staff and visitors safe from the spread of contagious disease. “We’re ready for any scenario,” Blanchet said.

But the medical experts need your help. Here are a few tips to make your visits to the hospital as safe as possible for you and your loved ones:

• Always wash your hands upon entering and leaving the patient’s room. Make sure to wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds, shutting off the faucet with a paper towel, or use alcohol hand gel and rub your hands together until dry. Visitors should clean their hands before visiting family members in the room, and also after they leave the room.
• Assess your own health before visiting the hospital. Don’t visit unless you’re feeling well yourself. If you have a contagious illness — the flu, a cold, a cough, or a stomach bug — you should not come visit your family or friends in the hospital.
• If the patient you are visiting has a contagious disease, consider calling instead. This is the safest way to protect your health. If you have not had close contact with the patient in the past week, you should not come to the hospital.
• If you do decide to visit a patient with a contagious illness, wear the protective items offered by the medical staff. Wearing the face mask, eye shield, and gown will help protect you from germs that you encounter in the patient’s room.
• Do not visit if you are at higher risk to contract infections. It is recommended that children under 2 years old, adults 65 years and older, and anyone with chronic heart or lung disease or a weakened immune system not visit patients with contagious diseases.

Blanchet added that, while it is important to be aware of the potentially serious complications of infectious diseases like the flu, keeping a level head is equally important. “If you wash your hands often, and use common sense when you’re around someone who is sick, there is no reason to worry or to alter your normal daily activities during flu season,” he noted.