Infection Control Flashcards
What is infection?
Invasion of the body, or part of the body by a pathogenic agent producing an injurious effect
What is a pathogen?
A microorganism capable of producing disease
What is bacteria?
Most significant and most prevalent in hospital setting
What shape is a spherical bacteria?
Cocci
What is rod shaped bacteria called?
Bacilli
What is the corkscrew bacteria shape called?
Spirochetes
If bacteria is gram positive what color does it turn?
Violet; have a thick cell wall that resists decolorization (loss of color)
If bacteria is gram negative what happens?
They chemically have more complex cell walls and can’t be decolorized by alcohol
What is aerobic?
Bacteria that require oxygen to live and grow
What is anaerobic?
Bacteria that can live without oxygen
What is a virus?
Smallest of all microorganisms
What is fungi?
Plant-like organisms present in air, soil, and water; they are highly resistant (ex. Yeast infection, athletes foot)
what are prions?
Protein particle (new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease)
What are parasites?
Protozoa (malaria, toxoplasmosis, and helminths (worms, flatworms, roundworms)
What is an opportunistic pathogen?
May become pathogenic in certain circumstances
What is virulence?
Relative power and degree of pathogenicity; ability to produce disease
What are the factors affecting an organisms potential to produce disease?
- Number of organisms
- Virulence
- Competence of person’s immune system
- Length and intimacy of contact between person and microorganism
What are Healthcare-associated Infection (HAI)?
Acquired in healthcare agency during course of treatment for other infections; no noted as being present upon admission
What is nosocomial?
Infection taking place or originating while in hospital
What is an Iatrogenic infection?
Acquired as a direct result of treatment/procedure (ex. Inserting Fowler catheter)
What are the 6 Chain of infection?
- Infectious Agent
- Reservoir
- Portal of Exit
- Means of transmission
- Portal of Entry
- Susceptible host
What is Infectious agent?
Infectious organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites
What is a reservoir?
Source of microorganism where they grow and multiply; such as people, animals, soil, insects, food, water, milk, inanimate objects, and plants
What is portal of exit?
Point of escape from reservoir such as respiratory, GI,GU, or reproductive tract, breaks in skin (wound), blood and tissue
What is Means of transmission?
Process of how microorganism transfers from reservoir (direct contact, indirect contact, airborne route)
What is portal of entry?
Point at which organisms enter a new host
What is a susceptible host?
Any person who is at risk for infection—being in a weakened condition from illness or injury; very young, very old, especially at risk
What are the 3 methods of transmission?
Contact (direct or indirect), Droplet, and Airborne
What is direct contact?
Infected person or CARRIER transmission to susceptible person (HOST) through touching, bitting, kissing, sex act, scratching, etc.
What is indirect contact?
Contact with any contaminated substance or object: finite (inanimate object)
What is droplet transmission?
Large particle droplets that don’t remain in the air (ex. Coughing and sneezing)
What is airborne transmission?
Smaller particle droplets that remain in the air (ex. TB)
What is a protective environment?
Helps protect clients who are immunocompromised, requires a mask for the client when out of room, not a type of precaution but an intervention, and requires a private room, positive airflow 12 or more air-exchanges/hr and HEPA filtration for incoming air
What are vector-arthropods contact transmission?
Fleas feed on rats infected with the plague contracting the plague then bites people to feed again passing it on to a human victor with their saliva (mosquitos-malaria, West Nile virus) (ticks-Lyme disease)
What are the stages of infection?
- Incubation
- Prodromal
- Full stage of illness
- Convalescent period
What is incubation?
Interval between the pathogen invasion of the body & appearance of s/s
What is prodromal?
Most infectious state (nonspecific s/s)
What is full stage of illness?
Full blown symptoms (specific symptoms)
What is convalescent period?
Recovery, depending on how severe the infection was
What is the bodies first line of defense?
Skin and mucous membrane (intact skin, sebum, cilia, mucus, macrophages, flush of urine, gastric acidity, normal flora (everywhere)
What is nonspecific inflammatory?
Defensive response to injury or infection,
Destroys microorganisms, Prevents spread, promotes repair, and has vascular and cellular stages
What is the vascular stage of nonspecific inflammatory?
Small blood vessels constrict in area followed by vasodilation of arterioles & venules that supply that area & increase blood flow resulting in redness and heat; histamine is released which increases permeability of vessels that allows protein rich fluid in area
What is the cellular stage of nonspecific inflammatory?
WBC (leukocytes) move quickly into the area. Neutrophils (phagocytes) engulf organisms & consume cell debris. Exudate released from wound. The damaged cells are repaired by either regeneration or formation of scar tissue
What is native immunity in nonspecific innate?
Restricts entry or immediately responds to foreign organism through activation of phagocyte cells, complements of inflammation
What is passive (nonspecific innate)?
Antibodies produced by external source; temp immunity that does not have memory of past exposure, 1st line of defense, mucus membranes, inflammatory response
What is specific adaptive immunity?
Allows body to make antibodies in response to foreign organisms or antigen
What is active (specific adaptive immunity)?
Antibody produced in response to antigen; requires time to react with antigens, provides permanent immunity, involves b&t lymphocytes, produces specific antibodies against specific antigens, host produces antibodies with exposure or immunization
What is antibody mediated or humoral (specific innate immunity) ?
B lymphocytes make antibodies that bind to foreign invader (antigen) and kill it while it is traveling in the body’s fluid (active immunity)
What is cell mediated (specific adaptive immunity)?
Several types of T cells take on the foreign invader once it has made into the body’s cell ultimately killing the pathogen and patient’s own cell (active immunity)
What is contact transmission used used with?
Used with patients infected with Multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO)
What is droplet transmission based precaution used for?
Used with patients infected with organisms spread by coughing large droplets (mumps, rubella, diphtheria)
What is airborne transmission based precautions used for?
Used with patients infected with small organisms that build up in and spread through the air (TB)
What type of PPE do you use for standard base precautions?
Gloves
What type of PPE do you use with airborne ?
Private room with negative pressure airflow and N-95 mask
What type of PPE do you use for contact transmission based precautions?
Private room if available and gloves
How do you support defenses of susceptible host?
Hygiene, healthy nutrition, fluids (promotes circulation and especially urinary tract function, rest & sleep, exercise and immunizations
What infection or disease may spread by touching a contaminated inanimate article?
A. Rabies
B. Giardia
C. E. Coli
D. Influenza
= D. Influenza
True or False: soaps and detergents (no anti microbial agents) are considered adequate for routine mechanical cleansing of the hands and removal of most transient microorganisms
True
True or False: standard precautions should be used when caring for noninfectious, postoperative patient who is vomiting blood
True
A nurse is assisting with teaching a newly licensed nurse about hand hygiene for surgical asepsis. Which of the following instruction should the nurse include?
Apply chlorhexidine and ethanol to the hands
