Transmission of Pathogenic Organisms in Pediatric Healthcare Settings

Matt Linam, MD, MS, medical director of Infection Prevention at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, describes the transmission of pathogenic organisms in pediatric hospitals.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability).

“Parents and visitors play an important role in the well-being and healing of hospitalized patients, but they also can serve as a source for transmission of infections.

When they come into the patient’s room, they may be shedding some virus or [be] colonized with some bacteria, [and] their hands may be contaminated with something that they picked up in the environment. When they go into the patient’s room, and interact with that patient and that patient’s environment, they can potentially transfer those organisms to the patient.

Then, when they leave the room, they may have become contaminated with whatever the patient has, and then take that with them, potentially taking it into the general hospital setting, or taking that home to their family and spreading that infection there.”