title: Airborne pathogen isolation capability in emergency departments of US children's hospitals.
abstract: The requirement for negative pressure isolation procedures has been an accepted component of pediatric care to protect patients and staff from highly infectious respiratory agents. Surveys regarding airborne isolation were distributed to 43 pediatric emergency departments at US children's hospitals with 26 responses. There was a median of 5 airborne isolation rooms, a median of 4 of those with negative pressure, and 61% without an ante-room. Capacity to manage pediatric patients infected with a highly pathogenic airborne-transmitted organism during an epidemic is limited.
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock, AR. Electronic address: kelley.garner@arkansas.gov.
authors.forename: Kelley
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Garner
authors.affiliation: Arkansas Department of Health, Little Rock, AR; Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: J Gary
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Wheeler
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR.
authors.forename: Terry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamauchi
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods*; D010356:Patient Isolation / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States
keywords: Airborne transmission; Infection control; Infectious diseases; Pediatrics