Abstract:
The threat posed by infectious diseases is progressively growing on a global
scale. With 2010 rapidly approaching, when South Africa will host the Soccer
World Cup, there will be a massive influx of foreigners into the country. The
purpose of the study was evaluate to the status of Gauteng tertiary academic
hospitals with respect to outbreak response and, with the help of existing local
and international policies and research, to develop a generic model that can be
used by hospitals in developing outbreak response policies and standard
operating procedures.
Methods
A descriptive cross-sectional survey using a semi-structured questionnaire was
utilized to evaluate the preparedness of tertiary health care facilities in South
Africa. The target population consisted of Clinical Directors, Senior Clinical
Executives/ Medical Superintendents, Infection Control Nurses and / or Quality
Assurance Managers and Infection Control Nurses. These categories of health
professionals were targeted as they are normally delegated responsibility for
outbreak response activities.
Results
Twelve tertiary academic hospitals were included in the survey and nine
responded to the survey questionnaire giving a 75% response rate. Other
significant findings were:
• 71% of the responding hospitals had clear terms of reference for their
response team.
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• 43% of the responding hospitals had a functional preparedness and response
strategy / plan for priority diseases.
• The most frequent point of entry in the tertiary academic hospitals is the
casualty / emergency unit, followed by the trauma and OPD areas
• There are very few ‘protective environment wards’ and ‘airborne infection
isolation rooms’ in Gauteng Province.
• Only 15% of responding hospitals have infection control compatible
ventilation and only 42% could manage a patient that requires quarantine in
the casualty/ emergency unit area. Most hospitals did not have the capacity
to quarantine large number of patients.
The study has also illustrated that there is no model easily available, suitable for
the South African context, that can be used by hospital management in facility
specific planning for infectious disease outbreaks.
Conclusions
It can be concluded from the findings of this study that academic hospitals in
Gauteng, as well as in other areas of South Africa, are not adequately prepared
for the management of an infectious disease outbreak.
