Advice from frontline personnel: How to avoid cross infection during nucleic acid testing?

Recently, epidemics have occurred frequently in various places. Many friends will participate in large-scale national nucleic acid testing. The resulting crowd gathering makes people worry whether it will increase the risk of infection.

At the press conference of the State Council's Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism on April 6, 2022, Wang Guiqiang, Director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Peking University First Hospital, pointed out that in order to avoid the risk of transmission caused by crowd gathering during large-scale nucleic acid screening, individuals should take good protection and cooperate before, during and after nucleic acid testing.

Based on the official website of the National Health Commission and the recommendations of infectious disease experts, combined with the personal experiences of nucleic acid testing personnel who have worked on the front lines, we would like to offer you some self-prevention recommendations for nucleic acid testing.

Before testing

Official advice:

It is recommended not to eat within two hours to avoid vomiting, nausea and other symptoms during the sampling process. It is recommended not to drink water, chew gum or drink alcohol 30 minutes in advance.

Frontline testing staff added:

Prepare the nucleic acid code/ID card in advance according to local requirements. You can take a screenshot or print it out in case the network/system is slow to refresh during large-scale nucleic acid testing.

Take good protection. The crowd density in the large-scale nucleic acid collection area is high, the queue is long, and the stay time is long. Try to bring as little or no things that are not related to nucleic acid testing as possible. Wear simple and easy-to-wash clothes, and don't go downstairs in pajamas. Leave dinosaur costumes and doll costumes at home. If the community may be environmentally positive, it is best to prepare a set of clothes specifically for nucleic acid sampling, and change them in time after returning home.

Reminder to grandparents who have a full mouth of dentures: you can take them off in advance and leave them at home! Don't lower your head when taking nucleic acid from the oropharynx, as the dentures may fall off! If they fall off, they will be contaminated and cannot be put back directly. You must wash them before wearing them when you take them home.

My personal experience | Photo provided by the author

If you are collecting nasal swabs, it is best to inform in advance if you have a history of nasal surgery, deviated nasal septum, nasal space-occupying lesions, blood diseases, throat diseases, coagulation disorders, etc. Because wearing protective clothing affects hearing, if conditions permit, you can write it on paper or print it out in advance, with large characters, so as to remind the staff when sampling and make adjustments according to the situation.

During detection

Official advice:

Wear a mask, take personal protection measures, maintain social distance, and avoid chatting with others.

Whether it is a nasal swab or an oropharyngeal swab, you must cooperate with the medical staff's requirements and perform corresponding actions to avoid cross infection.

Avoid touching items on the testing table and do not place personal items such as mobile phones, ID cards, keys, etc. on the table.

Frontline testing staff added:

Keep your distance when queuing, and don't take off your mask. Not taking off your mask means that you should try to weld the mask to your face! Don't spit anywhere and don't take off your mask to chat! Don't eat or drink! Why do some people eat potato chips and melon seeds while queuing for nucleic acid? The facial recognition of the mobile phone can also be changed to password unlocking. In short, don't take off the mask if you can. It is recommended to play with mobile phones less. On the one hand, the exposure of mobile phones to the environment increases the risk of contamination. On the other hand, when people gather, using mobile phones may cause network congestion and affect the registration and entry of nucleic acid information.

When registering, please keep your mobile phone and ID card in your hand. Ask the registration volunteer to scan and take a photo. Try to minimize contact and do not place them on the table.

The nucleic acid sampling area is a contaminated area! Contaminated area! Contaminated area! I must say this three times!

When queuing for sampling, stay away from the person who is taking the sample. Generally, the warning line is located at 2 to 3 meters. If there is no line, keep a distance of more than 2 meters and avoid standing downwind from the sampling area.

When the person in front of them has finished collecting the samples, the sample collector will disinfect their hands and quickly take out the mask and open their mouth to make the "ah" shape without making any sound. It is best to hold your breath and not inhale or exhale. After collecting the samples, put on the mask and leave immediately.

Don't touch the sampling table! Everyone open your mouth here! Take off your mask! There are coughs and retching! Don't touch the table with your hands, and don't put your wallet, mobile phone, or keys on the table!

Ladies and guys with long hair, can you put your hair up? Otherwise, when you stretch your neck, the ends of your hair will sweep around on the table. Do you know how much saliva there is on the table? And there are also false teeth!

The cotton swabs used for sampling are sterile. It is normal to produce saliva during sampling. You can swallow it directly. Do not spit or vomit into the medical waste bin next to the sampling station! That is a contaminated area! Do not put your head over there! Similarly, if you vomit easily, bring your own vomit bag! Quickly leave the sampling area before vomiting!

Me taking nucleic acid test | Photo provided by the author

After the test

Official advice:

Do not stay at the sampling point for too long, leave immediately. Do not discard waste at the sampling point, etc. After sampling, continue to take personal protection and keep your hands clean.

Frontline testing staff added:

Leave the nucleic acid sampling area quickly! Don't waste time! No need to put on a show!

Regarding hand hygiene, it is recommended to bring your own hand sanitizer or disinfectant/alcohol wipes. ID cards and mobile phones used during the nucleic acid test can be wiped and disinfected with alcohol.

If there is spare hand sanitizer at the exit of the sampling area, you can use it! Remember, it is at the exit! As a medical staff, I will be very pleased to see people washing their hands actively. Use quick hand sanitizer and press it all the way down. Use the 7-step hand washing method "inside and outside pinching the big wrist" to rub your hands for more than 20 seconds until they are naturally dry.

Seven-step hand washing method | Guokr

If you touch the sampling table or other contaminated areas, you can also use the hand sanitizer on the sampling table nearby. However, it is not recommended for everyone to use it, otherwise the double consumption on the sampling table may lead to insufficient consumables and inability to continue nucleic acid testing.

After returning home, wash your hands with soap or hand sanitizer and running water.

Disposable gloves can be worn but are not necessary. I have seen many people wearing disposable plastic film gloves for self-protection, the same as those used when eating crayfish. The original intention is good, but in fact, they wear them for nothing. Wearing gloves, hands will still touch everywhere, touch the countertops and hair, take the phone and put it back in the bag, and take off the mask with gloves. What is the difference between wearing and not wearing? It is better to wash your hands well and don't touch anything.

References

[1]http://www.nhc.gov.cn/xcs/fkdt/202204/fe15261f598d46a6ae4f0bdf0b102532.shtml

Author: Sometimes in April

Editor: Li Xiaoqiu

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