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Back to the future: Redefining “universal precautions” to include masking for all patient encounters

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2023

Ibukunoluwa C. Kalu ,
David K. Henderson ,
David J. Weber  and
Sarah Haessler Open the ORCID record for Sarah Haessler [Opens in a new window]
Ibukunoluwa C. Kalu
Affiliation:
Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
David K. Henderson
Affiliation:
Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
David J. Weber
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sarah Haessler*
Affiliation:
Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School–Baystate, Springfield, Massachusetts
*
Author for correspondence: Sarah Haessler, E-mail: sarah.haessler@baystatehealth.org
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Abstract

Despite recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) allowing institutions to relax in-facility masking strategies and due to our evolving understanding of respiratory pathogen transmission during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, we propose an updated standard for universal precautions in healthcare settings: permanently including universal masking in routine patient-care interactions. Such a practice prioritizes safety for patients, healthcare providers (HCPs), and visitors.

Type
Commentary
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 44 , Issue 9 , September 2023 , pp. 1373 - 1374
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America

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