AN OVERVIEW; IMPACTION OF RESPIRATORY INFECTION ON PUBLIC HEALTH AND PREVENTION MEASURES

Healthcare-associated respiratory infections are linked to increased morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Respiratory infections are common in hospitalised children and other immunocompromised or immunologically naive patients, and awareness of the seriousness of these infections in adults is growing. The most common causes of these infections are influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and rhinovirus. Narrative review conducted and searched PubMed, Science Direct and more databases for relevant articles published in English up to 2022. We included quasi experimental studies, clinical trials, cohort studies, longitudinal studies, case-control studies, and interrupted time series. We included studies that investigated the effect of the implemented public health measures to prevent and control respiratory infections. Because of the highly contagious nature of viral illnesses and their contributions to morbidity and mortality, prevention of respiratory viral transmission is critical in the healthcare setting. Infection control measures to prevent healthcare-associated illnesses can be supplemented with PCR testing to determine viral causes, but the cornerstone of prevention is human behaviour adhering to known practises to prevent the transmission of respiratory infections from one person to another.