letter to editor: Swine Flu: Concern for Infection Control in the Procedure of Patient Preparation for Chest X-Ray

Dear editor:Swine flu is a new emerging atypical H1N1 influenza virus infection. Nowadays swine flu pandemic has become a global public health threat.1 As there are several epidemic foci of swine flu around the world and there are many infected cases, it is necessary for every country to prepare for management. Chest x-ray is an important investigation for the confirmed infected cases as well as highly suspicious cases. There must be specific concern for infection control in the procedure of patient preparation for chest x-ray. In routine clinical practice, separation of the patients and using specific isolated parts are suggested for general clinic; however, this might not be possible for the x-ray unit. It is routinely not possible to separate the x-ray room specifically for this group of patients. There must be a special communication system between the ward and the x-ray unit for early preparation. The process must be managed as a fast track procedure and preparation of a special room based on disinfectant principles before and after each x-ray procedure. In addition, preparation of the patients according to basic infection control process such as wearing masks and hand washing before the x-ray procedure are other precautionary measurements.