Infection Control

• Infection prevention measures include hand hygiene, personal protective equipment (PPE), isolation precautions, disinfectants/sterilization, and vaccination.
• The purpose of infection control is to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
• What is the difference between normal and transient bacteria?

  The resident microbiota consists of microorganisms that constantly live in or on our bodies. The term transient microbiota refers to microorganisms that are only temporarily found in the human body, and these may include pathogenic microorganisms
• Disinfectants/Sterilization involve cleaning surfaces and instruments to kill microorganisms and prevent their growth.
• Disinfectants are used to kill microorganisms on surfaces, while sterilization destroys all forms of life.
• Isolation Precautions are used when caring for patients who have communicable diseases that can be transmitted through direct contact, droplets, airborne particles, or contaminated objects.
• Isolation Precautions involve placing patients in private rooms or cohorting them based on their diagnosis.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) includes gloves, gowns, masks, goggles, face shields, and respirators.
• Vaccinations protect against specific diseases by introducing weakened or dead forms of viruses into the body to stimulate immunity.
• Isolation Precautions are used when caring for patients who have communicable diseases.
• Antiseptics are chemicals applied to living tissue to destroy microorganisms.
• Disinfectants and Sterilization methods include heat sterilization, chemical sterilization, radiation sterilization, and ultraviolet light sterilization.
• Aseptic technique is the use of methods designed to minimize the risk of contamination by microorganisms during medical procedures.
• A bacteria that lives in the stomach is E-coli and it helps absorb vitamins
• The most common cause of food poisoning is Salmonella
• Cellular (living)

  • Parasites (tapeworm)
  • Protozoa (Malaria)
  • Fungi (Athlete's foot)    
  • Prokaryote (leprosy)

  
• Prion

  •  A prion is an infectious protein that has  folded abnormally into a structure capable of causing disease.
  • Prions can cause normally folded proteins to refold into the abnormal form and hence propagate within a host body.
  • Prion proteins aggregate together to form amyloid fibres that cause holes to form in the brain (spongiform encephalopathy).
  • Infectious prion proteins have a higher beta sheet content, making them more resistant to denaturation and difficult to treat.
• Bacteria

  • Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotic cells that can reproduce quickly and compete with host cells for space and nutrition .
  • Most bacteria are relatively harmless and some may even form mutualistic relationships with host (eg: normal gut flora)
  • Bacteria may cause disease by producing toxic compounds (exotoxins) or releasing the substances when destroyed endotoxins.
  • As the toxins retain their destructive capacity beyond bacterial death, they are often the cause of food poisoning.
• Viruses are metabolically inert and incapable of reproducing independently of a host cell
• Viruses typically consist of an inner core of nucleic acid surrounded by a protein coat (capsid)
• Simpler viruses may lack a capsid (viroids), whilst more complex viruses may possess an external lipid envelope
• Viruses can either be DNA based (adenoviruses) or RNA based (retroviruses)
• Prions are infectious proteins that have folded abnormally into a structure capable of causing disease
• Prions can cause normally folded proteins to refold into the abnormal form and propagate within a host body
• Prion proteins aggregate to form amyloid fibres that cause holes in the brain (spongiform encephalopathy)
• Infectious prion proteins have a higher beta sheet content, making them more resistant to denaturation and difficult to treat
• Bacteria are unicellular prokaryotic cells that can reproduce quickly and compete with host cells for space and nutrition
• Most bacteria are relatively harmless and some may even form mutualistic relationships with hosts (e.g., normal gut flora)
• Bacteria may cause disease by producing toxic compounds (exotoxins) or releasing substances when destroyed (endotoxins)
• Toxins from bacteria can cause food poisoning as they retain their destructive capacity beyond bacterial death
• Disease-causing Fungi usually attack body surfaces, including the skin and mucous membranes
• Fungi can be unicellular (yeast) or multicellular (moulds), with most fungi being moulds
• Moulds consist of branching filaments called hyphae, which may form a mass of invading threads called mycelium
• Examples of fungal infections include thrush (yeast infection) and athlete's foot (mould infection)
• A parasite is an organism that grows and feeds on another organism to the detriment of the host's survival
• Parasites can be ectoparasites (living on the surface) or endoparasites (living within the host)
• Endoparasites can be microparasites (e.g., single cell) or macroparasites (multicellular helminths protozoa)
• Germs can be transmitted through various means including droplets, airborne, direct contact, indirect contact, waterborne, foodborne, and vector-borne
• Droplet transmission involves pathogens being discharged from infected persons through sneezing, coughing, laughing, talking, and close contact
• Airborne transmission involves germs remaining in the air for a long time and causing lower respiratory tract infections