Predicting, preventing, and controlling infection transmission within a healthcare facility using a real-time locating system and next generation sequencing

Abstract

A system () includes a real-time locating system (RTLS) () configured to track locations of tags () in a monitored area. A non-transitory storage medium stores, a map () of the monitored area; a nodes database () storing information on nodes (); and a pathogen database () storing infectious transmission information. The non-transitory storage medium includes instructions readable and executable by an electronic processor to perform an infectious disease transmission tracking method () including: computing a pathway () on the map of at least one infected node using locations of the tag wherein an infected node has a non-zero infection likelihood; computing an infectious zone () on the map along the pathway; for each node contacting the infectious zone, adjusting the infection likelihood of the contacting node and designating the contacting node as an infected node if the updated infection likelihood of the contacting node satisfies an infected criterion.