ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Infection control for SARS in a tertiary neonatal centre

P C Ng¹, K W So¹, T F Leung¹, F W T Cheng¹, D J Lyon², W Wong¹, K L Cheung¹, K S C Fung², C H Lee¹, A M Li¹, K L E Hon¹, C K Li¹, T F Fok¹

¹ Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
² Department of Microbiology, Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

Correspondence to:
For correspondence:
Professor P C Ng, Department of Paediatrics, Level 6, Clinical Sciences Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China;
pakcheungng{at}cuhk.edu.hk

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is a newly discovered infectious disease caused by a novel coronavirus, which can readily spread in the healthcare setting. A recent community outbreak in Hong Kong infected a significant number of pregnant women who subsequently required emergency caesarean section for deteriorating maternal condition and respiratory failure. As no neonatal clinician has any experience in looking after these high risk infants, stringent infection control measures for prevention of cross infection between patients and staff are important to safeguard the wellbeing of the work force and to avoid nosocomial spread of SARS within the neonatal unit. This article describes the infection control and patient triage policy of the neonatal unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong. We hope this information is useful in helping other units to formulate their own infection control plans according to their own unit configuration and clinical needs.

Keywords: infection control; newborns; SARS

Abbreviations: SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; NNU, neonatal unit; NICU, neonatal intensive care; SCBU, special care baby unit, PPE, personal protective equipment; IPPV, intermittent positive pressure ventilation; CPAP, nasal continuous positive airway pressure

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