1. SARS
patients should limit interactions outside the home and should not go to work,
school, out-of-home child care, or other public areas until 10 days after the
resolution of fever, provided respiratory symptoms are absent or improving.
During this time, infection control precautions should be used, as described
below, to minimize the potential for transmission.
2. All members
of a household with a SARS patient should carefully follow recommendations for
hand hygiene (e.g., frequent hand washing or use of alcohol-based hand rubs),
particularly after contact with body fluids (e.g., respiratory secretions,
urine, or feces). See the "Guideline
for Hand Hygiene in Health-Care Settings" for more details on hand
hygiene.
3. Use of
disposable gloves should be considered for any direct contact with body fluids
of a SARS patient. However, gloves are not intended to replace
proper hand hygiene. Immediately after activities involving
contact with body fluids, gloves should be removed and discarded and hands
should be cleaned. Gloves must never be washed or reused.
4. Each patient
with SARS should be advised to cover his or her mouth and nose with a facial
tissue when coughing or sneezing. If possible, a SARS patient should wear a
surgical mask during close contact with uninfected persons to prevent spread
of infectious droplets. When a SARS patient is unable to wear a surgical mask,
household members should wear surgical masks when in close contact with the
patient.
5. Sharing of
eating utensils, towels, and bedding between SARS patients and others should
be avoided, although such items can be used by others after routine cleaning
(e.g., washing with soap and hot water). Environmental surfaces soiled by body
fluids should be cleaned with a household disinfectant according to
manufacturer's instructions; gloves should be worn during this activity.
6. Household
waste soiled with body fluids of SARS patients, including facial tissues and
surgical masks, may be discarded as normal waste.
7. Household
members and other close contacts of SARS patients should be actively monitored
by the local health department for illness.
8. Household
members or other close contacts of SARS patients should be vigilant for fever
(i.e. measure temperature twice daily) or respiratory symptoms and, if these
develop, should immediately seek healthcare evaluation. In advance of
evaluation, healthcare providers should be informed that the individual is a
close contact of a SARS patient so arrangements can be made, as necessary, to
prevent transmission to others in the healthcare setting. Household
members or other close contacts with symptoms of SARS should follow the same
precautions recommended for SARS patients.
9. At this
time, in the absence of fever or respiratory symptoms, household members or
other close contacts of SARS patients need
not limit their activities outside the home.
