Beyond the Plan: A Narrative Review of Multi-Professional Infection Prevention and Control Resilience for Emerging Respiratory Pathogens
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical fissures in traditional, siloed infection prevention and control (IPC) frameworks, which were often hospital-centric and ill-equipped for a sustained, society-wide respiratory threat. The post-pandemic era demands a paradigm shift from static preparedness plans to dynamic, integrated resilience—the capacity of the health system to anticipate, absorb, adapt, and transform in the face of novel pathogens.
Aim: This narrative review aims to synthesize evidence from the COVID-19 response to propose a model of multi-professional IPC resilience.
Methods: A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science for English-language literature (2010-2024).
Results: The review identifies four pillars of multi-professional resilience: 1) Integrated Sentinel Surveillance, leveraging community healthcare points for early signal detection; 2) Decentralized Mass Vaccination/Therapeutics, orchestrated by pharmacy and nursing networks; 3) Universal Respiratory Precautions, with dentistry leading on aerosol risk mitigation; and 4) Unified Communication & Trust-Building. Fragmented data systems, supply chain fragility, professional scope-of-practice barriers, and misinformation were key vulnerabilities identified.
Conclusion: Resilience to future respiratory pandemics requires intentional, pre-crisis integration of community-based healthcare assets—pharmacies, dental clinics, and primary care—into a unified public health infrastructure. Moving beyond hospital-focused plans to a whole-of-society strategy, built on shared protocols, interoperable data, and reciprocal trust among professions and the public, is the paramount lesson of COVID-19.
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Authors
Copyright (c) 2024 Amal Shayan Al motors, Abdulaziz Ahmed Aljarb, Sarah Abdulkareem Altuwaireet, Maryam Hamoud Alotaibi, Monira Mohammed Altayyar, Norah Shafi Dawi Alghamdi, Fatmah Ibrahim Aishaia, Seham Ibrahim Ali, Sami Naqaa Alonazi, Turki Naqaa Alonazi, Abdullah Munadi Alenzi, Najwa Fahad Alharbi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.