In infection control, what does cohorting mean?

In infection control, what does cohorting mean?

• A. Grouping inmates with similar infections to prevent transmission.
• B. Isolating all inmates individually.
• C. Vaccinating all inmates.
• D. Testing everyone weekly.

Answer: (A)

Cohorting means grouping people who have the same infection into the same area to limit transmission. By keeping all the contagious individuals together, you reduce the chance that they will spread the illness to those who are not infected, and you can dedicate staff and resources to that specific group with consistent infection-control practices. This approach is practical when isolating each person separately isn’t feasible, and it focuses on containing the spread within a defined group. The other options describe different strategies: isolating everyone individually requires separate rooms for each person, vaccination is about preventing disease rather than organizing people by infection status, and weekly testing is a screening tool to find infections, not a method of grouping those already infected.

Cohorting means grouping people who have the same infection into the same area to limit transmission. By keeping all the contagious individuals together, you reduce the chance that they will spread the illness to those who are not infected, and you can dedicate staff and resources to that specific group with consistent infection-control practices.

This approach is practical when isolating each person separately isn’t feasible, and it focuses on containing the spread within a defined group. The other options describe different strategies: isolating everyone individually requires separate rooms for each person, vaccination is about preventing disease rather than organizing people by infection status, and weekly testing is a screening tool to find infections, not a method of grouping those already infected.