Cargando…

Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures are critical to the reduction in healthcare-associated infections, especially during pandemics, such as that of COVID-19. We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study in August 2021 at Connaught Hospital, Princess Christian Maternity Hospital an...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn, Tengbe, Sia Morenike, Fofanah, Bobson Derrick, Bunn, James Edward, Njuguna, Charles Kuria, Kallon, Christiana, Kumar, Ajay M. V.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9105082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35564669
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095275
_version_ 1784707953180278784
author Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn
Tengbe, Sia Morenike
Fofanah, Bobson Derrick
Bunn, James Edward
Njuguna, Charles Kuria
Kallon, Christiana
Kumar, Ajay M. V.
author_facet Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn
Tengbe, Sia Morenike
Fofanah, Bobson Derrick
Bunn, James Edward
Njuguna, Charles Kuria
Kallon, Christiana
Kumar, Ajay M. V.
author_sort Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn
collection PubMed
description Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures are critical to the reduction in healthcare-associated infections, especially during pandemics, such as that of COVID-19. We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study in August 2021 at Connaught Hospital, Princess Christian Maternity Hospital and Ola During Children’s Hospital located in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We used the World Health Organization’s Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework Tool to assess the level of IPC compliance at these healthcare facilities. The overall IPC compliance score at Connaught Hospital was 323.5 of 800 points, 313.5 of 800 at Ola During Children’s Hospital, 281 of 800 at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, implying a ‘Basic’ IPC compliance grade. These facilities had an IPC program, IPC committees and dedicated IPC focal persons. However, there were several challenges, including access to safe and clean water and insufficient quantities of face masks, examination gloves and aprons. Furthermore, there was no dedicated budget or no healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance, and monitoring/audit of IPC practices were weak. These findings are of concern during the COVID-19 era, and there is an urgent need for both financial and technical support to address the gaps and challenges identified.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9105082
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-91050822022-05-14 Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done! Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn Tengbe, Sia Morenike Fofanah, Bobson Derrick Bunn, James Edward Njuguna, Charles Kuria Kallon, Christiana Kumar, Ajay M. V. Int J Environ Res Public Health Article Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures are critical to the reduction in healthcare-associated infections, especially during pandemics, such as that of COVID-19. We conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study in August 2021 at Connaught Hospital, Princess Christian Maternity Hospital and Ola During Children’s Hospital located in Freetown, Sierra Leone. We used the World Health Organization’s Infection Prevention and Control Assessment Framework Tool to assess the level of IPC compliance at these healthcare facilities. The overall IPC compliance score at Connaught Hospital was 323.5 of 800 points, 313.5 of 800 at Ola During Children’s Hospital, 281 of 800 at Princess Christian Maternity Hospital, implying a ‘Basic’ IPC compliance grade. These facilities had an IPC program, IPC committees and dedicated IPC focal persons. However, there were several challenges, including access to safe and clean water and insufficient quantities of face masks, examination gloves and aprons. Furthermore, there was no dedicated budget or no healthcare-associated infection (HAI) surveillance, and monitoring/audit of IPC practices were weak. These findings are of concern during the COVID-19 era, and there is an urgent need for both financial and technical support to address the gaps and challenges identified. MDPI 2022-04-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9105082/ /pubmed/35564669 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095275 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Kamara, Ibrahim Franklyn
Tengbe, Sia Morenike
Fofanah, Bobson Derrick
Bunn, James Edward
Njuguna, Charles Kuria
Kallon, Christiana
Kumar, Ajay M. V.
Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title_full Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title_fullStr Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title_full_unstemmed Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title_short Infection Prevention and Control in Three Tertiary Healthcare Facilities in Freetown, Sierra Leone during the COVID-19 Pandemic: More Needs to Be Done!
title_sort infection prevention and control in three tertiary healthcare facilities in freetown, sierra leone during the covid-19 pandemic: more needs to be done!
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9105082/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35564669
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19095275
work_keys_str_mv AT kamaraibrahimfranklyn infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT tengbesiamorenike infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT fofanahbobsonderrick infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT bunnjamesedward infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT njugunacharleskuria infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT kallonchristiana infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone
AT kumarajaymv infectionpreventionandcontrolinthreetertiaryhealthcarefacilitiesinfreetownsierraleoneduringthecovid19pandemicmoreneedstobedone