Ideas That Work: APIC Releases Specific Guidance for Mpox Outbreak Response

Practical pearls from your colleagues

Coinciding with last month’s announcement from the World Health Organization of a global health emergency regarding mpox, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) is helping infection preventionists (IPs) prepare to protect patients and providers from possible encounters with the contagious and dangerous disease at their facilities.

APIC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases Task Force has created an Mpox Playbook with specific guidance that IPs can customize for use in their facilities. It’s available for download at apic.org/monkeypox.

Formerly known as monkey pox, the version of mpox currently causing alarm is at crisis levels in the Democratic Republic of the Congo while spreading to neighboring African nations. While mpox is not yet a crisis in the United States, it’s a good idea to prepare for the possibility given the potential for its global spread.

APIC CEO Devin Jopp EdD, MS, says the playbook is designed to equip facilities to mobilize and respond as soon as they suspect an mpox outbreak and prevent its spread. “To respond, IPs and epidemiologists must identify the pathogen, prevent its transmission and ensure that workers are operating safely,” says Dr. Jopp. “They must also make sure that patients are safe, both in the facility and at discharge, and keep an open line of communications to healthcare stakeholders.” Adds Dr. Jopp, “It’s critical that we use what we learned during COVID-19 and the prior mpox outbreak in 2022 to improve infectious disease outbreak response to protect the patients and staff in our nation’s healthcare facilities.” OSM