Infection control and the pregnant health care worker

Health care workers may be exposed to a variety of infectious agents in the workplace. The pregnant health care worker presents additional concerns because of the potential risk of infection to the developing fetus. Health care workers often misunderstand the basic elements of infection transmission. The result of this misinformation is that personnel are most often concerned about the agents that are least transmissible. To develop an infection control program that is rational and workable, the infection control practitioner must have a thorough understanding of the mechanisms of disease transmission. With this foundation, an infection control program for the pregnant health care worker will rarely involve transfer to alternative assignments or work restriction based on pregnancy alone. The approach outlined in this article stresses a more generic approach to infection control by isolating the disease and not the employee.