Residential care facilities

Infectious diseases have the potential to spread readily in residential care facilities, as people live in close proximity to others, there are high levels of contact with staff and visitors, facilities may be shared, and residents may have physical or mental disabilities that can impact on their ability to maintain hygiene. In some settings, such as aged care facilities, residents may also be more susceptible to infection and severe disease because of older age or underlying health conditions that impair immunity.

Local Public Health Units (external link) should be notified if there is a suspected outbreak of gastroenteritis or acute respiratory infection (COVID-19, influenza or RSV) in a residential care facility.

Below are links to recommended measures and guidelines for preventing and controlling the spread of infection within a residential care facility:

• Infection prevention and control
• Gastroenteritis
• Acute respiratory infections

Other relevant information

• Healthy WA fact sheets on gastroenteritis, influenza and related diseases (external link)
• Western Australian infectious disease data
• My Aged Care (external link)
• Infectious Diseases Health Alert 25 August 2016: Increase in outbreaks of gastroenteritis and influenza in WA residential care facilities (PDF 46KB)