Infection control guidelines for optometrists 2007

Abstract

Information from peer‐reviewed articles, guidelines from professional societies and manufacturers’ instructions were considered to determine the risk factors in optometric practice and to make recommendations for disinfection, sterilisation and reprocessing of instrumentation and other equipment used in practice and measures for personal protection.

Wherever possible, all practitioners should adopt measures to decrease the risk of transmission of infection, such as single use instruments/equipment, appropriate methods of reprocessing where items are reused, routine employment of standard infection control precautions and application of more rigorous procedures for infected or immuno‐suppressed individuals.

Key words:

• disinfection
• infection
• infection control
• sterilisation
• vaccination

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We would like to thank Dr Erica Fletcher, Dr James Wolffsohn and Mr Mitchell Anjou for their contribution to an earlier draft of the guidelines.