Executive Summary

This document, Infection Control in Healthcare Personnel: Epidemiology and Control of Selected Infections Transmitted Among Healthcare Personnel and Patients, supersedes updated sections of Guideline for infection control in health care personnel, 1998 (“1998 Guideline”), Part E: Epidemiology and Control of Selected Infections Transmitted Among Health Care Personnel and Patients, and their corresponding recommendations in Part II of the 1998 Guideline.
Additional updated sections are forthcoming.

This update is intended for use by the leaders and staff of Occupational Health Services (OHS) and to guide OHS in the management of exposed or infected healthcare personnel (HCP) who may be contagious to others in the workplace. The updated recommendations in these sections focus on postexposure management, including postexposure prophylaxis (PEP), for exposed HCP and work restrictions for exposed or infected HCP.

The recommendations in this document update the 1998 recommendations with current guidance on the management of exposed or potentially infectious HCP. New topics in the update include expanded information regarding defining occupational exposures in healthcare settings, and descriptions of clinical features of each disease. Links are provided to current resources for diagnostic testing and recommended vaccines and criteria for evidence of immunity to vaccine-preventable diseases for HCP.

The recommendations are informed by reviews of the 1998 Guideline; current CDC resources, guidance, and guidelines; and new resources and evidence, when available. The recommendations are classified as good practice statements based upon the expert opinions of the authors and the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC).