Keeping Patient Wellbeing at the Center of Outbreak Investigation

Arjun Srinivasan, MD, associate director, Healthcare-associated Infection Prevention Programs, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explains how healthcare officials can keep the patient at the center of outbreak investigations.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“The patient is at the center of what we do when we investigate an outbreak. The reason that we’re investigating the outbreak is to protect patients from harm. Patients need to know, they need to be kept informed about what’s going on.

So, either the patient or the loved one needs to know [the following]: What is the outbreak? What’s the nature of it? Most importantly, they need to know what steps are being taken to keep them safe, [and] what are you doing to manage if they had an infection that was part of the outbreak. How are they treating that infection? What are we doing to make sure that they are treated? What are we doing to protect other patients? What are we doing to make sure that the care we deliver is safe?”