Infection

• Asepsis


  Absence of pathogenic bacteria, viruses, and other harmful microorganisms
• Microorganisms


  Tiny microscopic entities capable of carrying on living processes
• Types of microorganisms


  • Nonpathogenic - harmless, do not produce disease usually unless highly susceptible to infection
  • Pathogenic - cause specific diseases or infections
• Medical asepsis


  Techniques that inhibit growth and transmission of pathogenic microorganisms
• Surgical asepsis


  Techniques that destroy all microorganisms and their spores
• Clean technique


  Medical asepsis
• Sterile technique


  Surgical asepsis
• Increased risk for infection for patient entering a healthcare facility because:
• Infection control and prevention

  Minimizing spread of health care–associated infections or community-acquired infections to patients or staff

  
• Hospital acquired infection (HAI)


  Infections acquired while in the hospital or other health care agency
• Chain of events for infection to develop

  1. Infectious agent - pathogen

  2. Reservoir - where pathogen grows

  3. Portal of exit - exit route from reservoir

  4. Mode of transportation - method or vehicle of transportation

  5. Portal of entry - entrance through skin, mucous lining, or mouth

  6. Host - person or animal susceptible to the pathogen

  
• Infectious agent


  Something that contains bacteria, fungi, virus, parasite, or prion
• Pathogenic microorganism


  Bacteria, virus, fungi and protozoa

  
• Where pathogens can grow

  • Unwashed hands
  • Wound drainage
  • Soiled linen
  • Decaying teeth
• Disinfection


  Use of chemical to applied objects to destroy germs
• Antiseptic


  Inhibits grow and reproduction of germs
• Bacteria


  • Aerobic - Grows only with O2
  • Anaerobic - Grows only without O2
  • Spores (certain types) - Resistance to heat and disinfectants
• How to identify bacteria

  1. Gram stain > negative or positive

  2. Necessary to determine treatment plan

  3. Staining needed to determine type of bacteria (spores, flagella, capsules)

  4. Different organism require different antibiotics

  
• Streptococcus responsible for more diseases than any other organism
• Staphylococcus (staph)


  A group of bacteria, more than 30 types, Methicillin –resistance Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
• MRSA


  Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

  
• Colonization


  Germs can be in or on the body, but not make you sick. MRSA can cause infection or colonization.
• MRSA can be diagnosed via nasal swab, and treated with antibiotic ointment for 5 days
• MRSA risk factors


  • Compromised skin
  • Contact skin-to-skin
  • Contaminated items or surfaces
  • Crowding
  • Poor hygiene

  
• Community-acquired methicillin resistant Staph aureus (CAMRSA)


  MRSA acquired outside of healthcare settings

  
• Virus


  Smallest known agents, not complete cells, self-limiting - antibiotics do not alter the course of viral disease

  
• How viruses get in

  Respiratory, GI, broken skin, mosquito bite
• Common virus


  • Common cold
• Coronavirus pandemic of respiratory illness
• Coronavirus signs & symptoms: cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, muscle or body aches, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, diarrhea, headache, new fatigue, nausea or vomiting and congestion or runny nose
• Coronavirus vaccine and booster available
• Reservoir


  The habitat of the infectious agent and is where it lives, grows, and reproduces itself or replicates

  
• Portal of exit


  The means by which the infectious agent can leave the reservoir
• Portal of entry


  Any body orifice or through the skin that provides a place for the infectious agent to replicate or for the toxin to act
• Susceptible host


  Required for the infectious agent to take hold and become a reservoir for infection. Not everyone who is exposed to an infectious agent gets sick.

  
• Factors that increase risk of infection

  • Reduced immune system
  • Presenting illness
  • Illness from others
  • Portals from invasive procedures
• Modes of transmission


  • Contact - microorganisms move from an infected person to another person
  • Droplet - airborne droplets from the respiratory tract travel through the air and into the mucosa of a host
  • Airborne - small particulates move into the airspace of another person

  
• Local infections


  Confined to one area of the body, can be treated with topical and oral antibiotics
• Systemic infections


  Start as local infections and then spread to the bloodstream to infect the entire body
• Inflammatory response


  • Systemic signs and symptoms: Fever, leukocytosis (increased WBC), malaise, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, and lymph node enlargement