Working Hard

Policies - Infection Control in Surgery (Amendment to page 39 of Policy on Infection Control in Surgery). CONTENTS Preface RACS Advisory Committee on Infection Control in Surgery 1. BASIC PRINCIPLES INTRODUCTION SPREAD OF INFECTION Source of Micro-Organisms Susceptible Hosts Means of Infection INFECTION CONTROL BLOOD BORNE INFECTIONS HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) Hepatitis B Hepatitis C Other Blood Borne Viruses TISSUE BORNE INFECTIONS BACTERIAL INFECTIONS 2. INDIVIDUALS AT RISK OF HIV AND DUTY TO BE TESTED 3. RESPONSIBILITY OF REFERRING DOCTOR AND TESTING OF PATIENTS PRIOR TO SURGERY 4. EXPOSURE PRONE PROCEDURES 5. MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS AND HEALTH CARE WORKERS 6. DUTY OF CARE 7. HIV AND HEPATITIS B / C INFECTIOUS PATIENTS 8. INFECTION CONTROL MEASURES 9. PRINCIPLES OF STERILISATION 10. BLOOD TRANSFUSION APPENDICES I. II. HEPATITIS B IMMUNISATION TRANSMISSION OF HIV AND HEPATITIS B / C IN HEALTH CARE SETTINGS

III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. Notes

BLOOD DONOR FORM INFECTION CONTROL PROTOCOLS STERILISATION OF SURGICAL INSTRUMENTS PROTOCOL FOR NEEDLE STICK INJURIES AND OTHER EXPOSURES OF HEALTH CARE WORKERSTO HIV, HBV, HCV AUTOLOGOUS BLOOD TRANSFUSION MULTI-ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT ORGANISMS CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE (CJD) NEW SOUTH WALES INFECTION CONTROL REGULATIONS

PREFACE It is a decade since the RACS Policy Document on Infection Control was first released. The College Policy has always adhered to the basic principles of infection control such as hand washing. These principles are again emphasised in this fourth update along with important issues relating to infections caused by blood borne viruses, including Hepatitis C. The document has now been revised in the light of the recent publication entitled Infection Control in the Health Care Setting: Guidelines for the Prevention of Transmission of Infectious Diseases (National Health and Medical Research Council and Australian National Council on AIDS, April 1996). I represented the College on the...