Health Dictionary
Reliable, easy-to-read patient information on common medical conditions — written in plain language, free of jargon, and grounded in current evidence. Browse the most frequent diagnoses, understand what they mean for everyday life, and learn which steps and questions help you have a focused conversation with your doctor.
Novel human coronavirus infection primary prevention
Introduction
Primary Prevention
Primary Prevention
- There is no vaccine currently available.
- Exactly how people become infected with this virus is not known at this time. However, some general measures that would be prudent and help prevent the acquisition of any respiratory illness are to avoid close contact, when possible, with anyone who shows symptoms of illness (coughing and sneezing), and to maintain good hand hygiene.
- Health care workers: Health care workers come into contact with patients with many different infectious illnesses more often than the general public. Therefore WHO recommends that health care workers consistently apply appropriate infection prevention and control measures.
- Any clusters of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) in healthcare workers in the United States should be thoroughly investigated. Occurrence of a SARI cluster of unknown etiology should prompt immediate notification of local public health for further notification and testing.
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]; Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Aditya Govindavarjhulla, M.B.B.S. [2]