Possibilities For The Prevention Of Covid-19 In Institutional Conditions With Special Regards To Nutritional Aspects

Good nutrition is vital to have good mental and physical health.On the contrary, poor nutrition can contribute to the risk of developing some illnesses and other health problems. Several nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats, water, vitamins, and minerals are required for energy, maintenance of tissues and regulation of bodily processes. An attempt is made to provide suitable information to help the patients and staff living and working in residential homes during the unusual circumstances and hard times of the crisis caused by COVID-19 pandemic caused by the new coronavirus. It would help to prevent the infection or successfully manage it. The manuscript includes general and nutritional aspects, such as protective equipment, disinfection, general hygienic rules, tests, isolation rooms, nutrition, and physical-mental balance. It is hoped that these measures can also play major role in the care of the already infected individuals.

- Dr. Judit and Dr. Mahendra Pal

The control of COVID-19epidemic caused by the novel Coronavirus (Toresdahl and Asif, 2019; Boldoget al.,2020;Lippi et al.,2020; Pal et al.,2020; Váradiet al.,2020), and the professional treatment of infected persons, require increased attention all over the world. The age groups, the most at risk of the epidemic, are the elderly ones(WHO,2017;Sri Wening and Babken,2012; Kovácset al.,2016), as their bodies are less resistant to infections. In addition to this, their nutritional needs are different from the normal diet so in most cases, they require vitamin supplementation, and special pasty and liquid-pasty diet (Drewnowskiet al., 2001; Govindarajuet al., 2018; WHO, 2020). The people suffering from chronic diseases, such as tuberculosis, diabetes mellitus, bronchial asthma, cancer, cardiovascular, kidney, liver problems etc. have increased susceptibility to pandemics, which also require an individual diet. Due to these reasons, the care and health protection of old people are at the top of the list from the prevention point of view. The main purpose of this communication is to summarize the most important preventive possibilities to check the spread of Coronavirus in institutional settings.

Measures to prevent a pandemic in institutional settings

Protective equipment: One of the most important ways to prevent the spread of the virus is to use protective equipment. This will protect the care staff and the patients against the infection. Adherence to the relevant rules is outstanding.

Disinfection: The first most important step is to frequently disinfect the hand either with soap and water or by alcohol based sanitizer. However, disinfecting every surface that could be touched by the patients of the residential home is also very imperative.