Protective isolation or reverse isolation denotes the practices used for protecting vulnerable persons for contracting an

infection An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable d ...

. When people with weakened immune systems are exposed to organisms, it could lead to infection and serious complications. It is sometimes practiced in patients with severe

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

s and

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...

, or those undergoing

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated to chemo and sometimes CTX or CTx) is a type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) as part of a standardized chemotherapy regimen. Chemothe ...

. When reverse isolation is practiced in laminar air flow or high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA)-filtered rooms, there was an improvement in survival for patients receiving bone marrow or stem cell grafts. __TOC__

Precautions

When a person is in protective isolation, the room should be properly cleaned and ventilated. Only necessary furniture should be present in the room. Hand hygiene products such as hand sanitizer, soap, paper towels, and gloves should be made available. The hospital staff and visitors shall use protective clothing and equipment while visiting the person under protective isolation. The number of visitors should be limited and sick people should not visit the person who is under protective isolation. Dedicated medical equipment is used for the patient, and in cases where equipment should be shared, it is cleaned with a disinfectant.

Consequences

A small study showed that children brought up under protective isolation have been reported to have less self-generated activity, including motor and motor-based cognitive skills.

References

{{reflist Infectious diseases Prevention Nursing Medical hygiene Isolation (health care)