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Infection Control and Prevention

Principles and practices for local public health agencies

The purpose of this site is to assist local public health agencies in designing infection control and prevention programs that will reduce the risk of communicable disease transmission among employees and clients during delivery of public health services to the community.

Infection control and prevention is a set of practices designed to reduce transmission of communicable diseases among patients, health care workers, and visitors in a variety of health care settings. Such practices include hand hygiene, use of personal protective equipment, environmental cleaning and disinfection, waste management, cough etiquette, and other engineering and work practice controls that help reduce infectious disease transmission.

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) are the main authorities on health care worker infection control programs. Although CDC is not a regulatory agency and has no enforcement authority, its recommendations have become standards in the health care industry and should be observed when applicable.

OSHA standards cover all employees except self employed and government workers. State and local government employees in Wisconsin are covered under the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) which serves as the enforcement agency for all OSHA standards.

  • Practices for selected diseases (PDF)
    • Table of specific infection control measures, such as isolation, quarantine, and types of personal protective equipment used for commonly encountered communicable diseases and potential bioterrorism agents.
  • Precautions for syndromes (PDF)
    • Conditions or symptoms that require empiric use of precautions until etiologic agents are confirmed or ruled out.

Contacts

Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Prevention Program
Division of Public Health
Bureau of Communicable Diseases
Phone 608-267-7711
Fax 608-261-4976
Email: dhswihaipreventionprogram@dhs.wisconsin.gov

Wisconsin Local Health Departments - Regional offices - Tribal agencies

Last revised April 13, 2023