Healthcare Infections

Question 1

Healthcare infections

Answer 1

Infections arising as a consequence of providing healthcare

In hospital patients:

Neither present nor incubating at time of admission

For practical purposes, this means onset is at least 48 hours after admission

Also includes infections in hospital visitors and healthcare workers

Question 2

Why are healthcare infections important

Answer 2

Frequent -prevalence = 8% of in-patients

Impact on health

Impact on healthcare organisations

Preventable

Question 3

Examples of healthcare infection pathogens

Answer 3

Viruses - HepB+C, norovirus, influenza

Bacteria - Staph aureus + MRSA, E.Coli

Fungi - Candida albicans

Parasites - Malaria

Question 4

Risk factors that can affect susceptibility of a patient

Answer 4

extremes of age

obesity/malnourished

diabetes

cancer

immunosuppression

smoker

surgical patient

emergency admission

Question 5

The 4 P’s of infection prevention and control

Answer 5

Patient - Pathogen - practice - place

Have to analyse - general and specific patient risk factors for infections - need to keep a check on the patients interaction with other patients/ hospital workers/ visitors

Need to check the virulence factors of the pathogen and investigate its ecological interactions with other bacteria and antibiotics/disinfectants to make sure they are affective

Need to make sure the practice keeps on top of general and specific activities of - healthcare workers, their Policies and their implementation, Organisational structure and engagement, regional and national political initiatives and leadership at all
levels from government to the ward

Question 6

Patient interventions

Answer 6

General - we want to optimise the patients condition - preventing smoking diabetes and keeping up good nutrition and hand hygiene

Specific - can give the patient MRSA screens and disinfectant body wash each day

Halting patient to patient transmission - physical barriers - need for isolation of infected patients and protection of susceptible patients

Question 7

Healthcare worker interventions

Answer 7

There’s a need for healthcare workers not to give or pass around any bacteria or pathogens that may be present in the hospital

Therefore before healthcare workers can be recruited and start working they need to be disease free and be vaccinated for all the major diseases

They also need to have good clinical techniques (e.g. being sterile and remembering how remain sterile going from patient to patient) , need to have good hand hygiene as well

Question 8

Environmental interventions

Answer 8

Environment is one of the main ways disease gets into the patients

Need to keep a clean space, managing toilets and wash hand basins

Cleaning - need to use disinfectants, steam cleaning and hydrogen peroxide vapour

When using medical devices between patients - need to make sure they are sterilised and that you only use them on one patient before they are decontaminated and then sterilised before use

For immunosuppressed patients - need to have clean rooms so that common colds and flu doesn’t kill patients