Germs and CF
Medical studies show that people with CF are at particular risk of spreading certain germs among others with the disease. This is known as cross-infection. In people with CF, thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs also allows germs to thrive and multiply. This buildup makes them more susceptible to developing lung infections. Despite significant progress in treating CF, infections remain a serious problem and can lead to worsening lung disease and death. However, there are steps you can take to lower the risk.
Lowering the Risk of Cross Infection
When there is more than one person with CF in your school, it is essential that they be kept a minimum of 6 feet (2 meters) apart from each other. Germs can spread as far as 6 feet through droplets released in the air when people cough or sneeze.
If there is more than one person with CF in the same school or classroom, the following steps can help minimize the spread of germs between people with CF. These recommendations are based on recent research and have been reviewed by medical experts.
1. Minimize the time that two people with CF can spend in one place. A minimum 6-foot distance should be maintained at all times.
- Place people with CF in separate classrooms whenever possible.
- If they must be in the same classroom, make sure the individuals are assigned separate desks or work stations as far away as possible (a minimum of 6 feet) from the assigned location of the other person with CF.
- Assign separate bathrooms and drinking fountains for students and staff members with CF.
- Schedule the students with CF to be in other common gathering areas, such as the gym, at different times.
- Assign lunch tables, lockers, and any other items for all students with CF to be as far away as possible from the assigned locations of other students with CF.
- Assign different locations for people with CF to go for their medications, or have the school nurse visit each student in their separate classrooms to administer the medications.
- If a person with CF becomes ill while in school, one student can go to the health office, another to the principal's office, and a third to the counselor's office.
- If a student with CF is ill or needs to go to another room or office to get medications, the staff in that office should be notified prior to sending the student to the office to ensure that another person with CF is not present.
2. Encourage everyone to wash or clean their hands
- Germs can spread when people touch something with germs already on it, like a doorknob or desk, and then touch their eyes, nose, or mouth.
- Everyone should clean their hands after coughing, sneezing, or blowing their nose and after using common equipment (e.g., a pencil sharpener, lab equipment, etc.). This is especially important during the cold and flu season.
- Make alcohol-based hand gel and or soap and water readily available for all students and staff to use in the classrooms.
3. Encourage everyone to cover their cough.
- Germs can remain in the air on tiny droplets -- ready to be breathed in. They can also remain on surfaces long after a person has coughed or sneezed on or near them.
- Make tissues readily available and encourage people to cough or sneeze into a tissue and throw it away immediately before washing or cleaning hands. If a tissue is not available, encourage everyone to cough or sneeze into their inner elbow.
4. Encourage everyone to get vaccinated.
- Vaccinations help the body protect itself from germs, like the flu virus, which are especially dangerous for people with CF.
- For a list of what vaccinations to get and when to get them, visit the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.