Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO)

Ochi, Sae; Murakami, Michio; Hasegawa, Toshihiko; Komagata, Yoshinori

doi:10.3390/ijerph181910188

Open AccessArticle

Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO)

by

Sae Ochi

^1,*,

Michio Murakami

²,

Toshihiko Hasegawa

³ and

Yoshinori Komagata

⁴

¹

Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Jikei University School of Medicine, Tokyo 105-8461, Japan

²

Division of Scientific Information and Public Policy, Center for Infectious Disease Education and Research, Osaka University, Osaka 565-0871, Japan

³

Research Institute of Future Health, Tokyo 113-0022, Japan

⁴

Department of Nephrology and Rheumatology, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Tokyo 181-8611, Japan

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(19), 10188; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910188

Submission received: 15 August 2021 / Revised: 16 September 2021 / Accepted: 23 September 2021 / Published: 28 September 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Challenges in Emergency Response and Public Health in Compound Disasters)

Download

Browse Figures

Review Reports Versions Notes

Abstract

Infection control at nursing homes is a top priority to address the COVID-19 pandemic because people who are the most vulnerable to the pathogen live in close contact. Currently, control measures specifically for nursing homes often ignore under-resourced condition of the facilities. To make guidelines assuming realistic conditions, an expert meeting with 16 members established the key challenges in nursing homes, the basics of infection control, and the major transmission routes. A list of existing guidance was compiled and each item in the list was peer-reviewed by eight experts considering three aspects: significance, scientific validity, and feasibility. Factors related to the nursing home environment, the nature of SARS-CoV-2 transmission, and patient characteristics were identified as the causes of difficulties in infection control at nursing homes. To develop realistic prevention measures in under-resourced condition such as nursing homes, we may need to accept there are no perfect control measures that can achieve zero risk. Instead, the guidelines are based on the concept of deep defense, and practical checklists with 75 items were established. The evaluation of nursing homes by independent organizations using the checklists would be helpful to achieve sustainable infection control.

Keywords: COVID-19; nursing homes; health management; disaster risk reduction for health; deep defense; infection control

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Ochi, S.; Murakami, M.; Hasegawa, T.; Komagata, Y. Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 10188. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910188

AMA Style

Ochi S, Murakami M, Hasegawa T, Komagata Y. Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(19):10188. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910188

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ochi, Sae, Michio Murakami, Toshihiko Hasegawa, and Yoshinori Komagata. 2021. "Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO)" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 19: 10188. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910188

APA Style

Ochi, S., Murakami, M., Hasegawa, T., & Komagata, Y. (2021). Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO). International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(19), 10188. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph181910188

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

Article Menu

Prevention and Control of COVID-19 in Imperfect Condition: Practical Guidelines for Nursing Homes by Japan Environment and Health Safety Organization (JEHSO)

Abstract

Share and Cite

Article Metrics

Article Access Statistics

Further Information

Guidelines

MDPI Initiatives

Follow MDPI