Infection 7 Hospital Acquired Infections

Question 1

What are healthcare infections?

Answer 1

Infections arising as a consequence of providing healthcare

Question 2

What infections are classified as hospital acquired infections?

Answer 2

Acquired >48 hours free admission

Question 3

Examples of hospital acquired infections

Answer 3

UTIs
Pneumonia
GI infections
Skin+soft tissue e.g. pressure ulcer
Surgical wound infections
MRSA
Clostridioides difficile
Norovirus

Question 4

Examples of viruses causing hospital acquired infections

Answer 4

HIV
Hepatitis B+C
Norovirus > diarrhoea + vomiting
Influenza
Chickenpox

Question 5

Patients at higher risk of getting hospital acquired infection

Answer 5

Extremes of ages
Obesity
Malnourished
Diabetes
Cancer
Imunosuppressed
Smoker
Surgical patient
Emergency admission

Question 6

Examples of bacteria causing hospital acquired infections

Answer 6

Staph aureus - MRSA
Clostridium difficle
Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Question 7

Example of parasites causing hospital acquired infections

Answer 7

Malaria
More likely to be from blood contamination than mosquitoes

Question 8

Examples of fungi causing hospital acquired infections

Answer 8

Candida albicans
Aspergillus species

Question 9

What are the 4Ps of infection prevention?

Answer 9

Patient
Pathogen
Practice
Place

Question 10

General patient interventions for infection prevention

Answer 10

• Optimise patient conditions
  e.g. reduce smoking, nutrition, diabetes
• Hand hygiene
• Skin preparation
• Antimicrobial prophylaxis

Question 11

Specific patient interventions for infection prevention

Answer 11

MRSA screening
Disinfectant body wash
Mupirocin nasal ointment

Question 12

Outline isolation for HCIAs

Answer 12

Stop patient to patient transmission
- isolate infected patients
- protect susceptible patients

Question 13

Healthcare worker interventions for infection prevention

Answer 13

Ensure healthcare workers are - healthy
- disease free
- vaccinated
Good practice - good clinical technique
- PPE
- hand hygiene
- anti-microbial prescribing

Question 14

Environmental interventions for infection prevention

Answer 14

Cleaning - disinfectants
- steam cleaning
- hydrogen peroxide vapour
Medical devices - single use equipment
- sterilisation
- decontamination
Good food hygiene
+/- pressure rooms

Question 15

What is patient I-fiving?

Answer 15

Identify
Isolate
Investigate
Inform
Initiate

Question 16

Identify in I-five

Answer 16

ABCDEF
Abroad
Blood borne infections
Colonised
Diarrhoea/vomiting
Expectorating - coughing up sputum
Funny looking rash

Question 17

Which people are affected by healthcare infections?

Answer 17

In hospital patients
Healthcare workers
Hospital visitors

Question 18

Why are healthcare infections important to be aware of?

Answer 18

Frequent
Preventable
Impact health + healthcare organisations

Question 19

Outline the practice component for infection prevention of HCAI

Answer 19

• general and specific activities of healthcare workers
• policies + their implementation
• leadership at levels from government to ward

Question 20

Outline the pathogen component for infection prevention for HCAIs

Answer 20

Virulence factors
Ecological interactions - other bacteria, antibiotics etc.

Question 21

What is antibiotic resistance?

Answer 21

Ability of bacteria to resist the effects of antibiotics previously used to treat them

Question 22

Three mechanisms of antibiotic resistance

Answer 22

Natural resistance
Genetic mutation
Acquired resistance

Question 23

What are some reasons for antibiotic resistance?

Answer 23

Misuses of antibitoics
Spontaneous mutations

Question 24

Give 3 reasons why antimicrobial resistance is a global concern

Answer 24

• threatens the ability to treat common infectious diseases
• increases cost of health care
• makes surgical procedures very high risk