Public Health England issues Ebola guidance for dentists
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- Published: Tuesday, 13 January 2015 07:31
- Written by News Editor
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Although it is unlikely that a patient with symptoms of Ebola will present at a dental practice or clinic for either routine or urgent care, dentists and their teams may see patients who have recently travelled from areas affected by the disease. Public Health England has therefore issued guidance for dentists on how to treat such patients,which can be downloaded from:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ebola-advice-for-dental-care-teams
Public Health England’s key messages are:
- It is important for the protection of patients, public and dental teams that high standards of infection control and decontamination are in place at all times.
- The risk of Ebola being imported into the UK is currently considered to be low. People infected with Ebola can only spread the virus to other people once they have developed symptoms. Ebola virus is not spread through routine, social contact (such as shaking hands or sitting next to someone) with asymptomatic individuals. The Ebola virus is not a robust virus, and is readily inactivated, for example, by soap and water or by alcohol.
- It is unlikely that a patient with symptoms of Ebola will present at a dental practice or clinic for either routine or urgent care. However, dentists and their teams may encounter patients who have recently travelled from areas affected by Ebola, including humanitarian, health and service personnel. These individuals are now risk assessed at their port of entry to the UK as part of a monitoring programme.
- Those individuals who have had some contact with Ebola are asked to postpone any non-essential medical or dental treatment until the end of their 21 day observation period. If urgent operative treatment is required to manage the patient’s condition during the 21 day period, contact the HPT. The HPT will support an individual case assessment and provide advice regarding further management.
- Display the public awareness Ebola poster and if a case is suspected, isolate the patient in a side room or surgery to limit contact, and seek advice from NHS 111.
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