Infection Prevention and Control Including Sterilisation and Disinfection

Question 1

What are the three ways that healthcare associated infections can be prevented?

Answer 1

prevent development of antibiotic resistance, prevent transmission and prevention of infection of individual patient

Question 2

How does transmission of pathogens occur?

Answer 2

there is a source, there is a mode of transmission and there is a susceptible host

Question 3

What are different sources of pathogens?

Answer 3

animate (healthcare worker, patient) and inanimate objects (fomite, environment)

Question 4

What are the different modes of transmission?

Answer 4

contact transmission, droplet transmission and airborne

Question 5

What are the different types of contact transmission?

Answer 5

direct (person to person) or indirect (via a contaminated intermediate)

Question 6

What pathogens travel via direct contact transmission?

Answer 6

herpes simplex, scabies

Question 7

What is droplet transmission?

Answer 7

where the size of the particle is greater than 5 micro metres and so drops to the ground after travelling about 1m - produced by coughing and sneezing

Question 8

What pathogens travel via droplet transmission?

Answer 8

– influenza
– pertussis
– SARS
– Neisseria meningitidis
– rhinovirus

Question 9

What is airborne transmission?

Answer 9

where the size of the particle is less than 5 micro metres so can travel long distances via the air and can be dispersed widely by air currents

Question 10

What pathogens travel via airborne transmission?

Answer 10

– TB
– Measles
– Varicella

Question 11

What are the different isolation precautions?

Answer 11

standard precautions and transmission base precautions

Question 12

What are standard precautions?

Answer 12

precautions used for all patients at all times to protect the health care worker - involves the use of gloves, gowns and goggles when in contact with blood, all body fluids, secretions and excretions (except sweat), non intact skin and mucous membranes

Question 13

What are contact precautions?

Answer 13

gowns and gloves for all patient contact, single room

Question 14

Which patients require contact precautions?

Answer 14

patients with diarrhoea, excessive wound drainage, multidrug resistant organisms and respiratory viruses

Question 15

What are droplet precautions?

Answer 15

use surgical masks and a single room

Question 16

Which patients require droplet precautions?

Answer 16

patients with pertussis, meningococcus and respiratory viruses

Question 17

What are airborne precautions?

Answer 17

negative pressure ventilation, N95 mask, single room with door closed

Question 18

Which patients require airborne precautions?

Answer 18

TB, chicken pox, measles, pandemic infleunza, SARS

Question 19

What is sterilisation?

Answer 19

The process of killing or removing all viable organisms,

including viruses, bacteria, fungi and spores

Question 20

What is disinfection?

Answer 20

The process that eliminates many or all-pathogenic
microorganisms on inanimate objects with the
exception of bacterial spores

Question 21

What is cleaning?

Answer 21

The removal of visible soil (eg organic and inorganic

material) from objects and surfaces - essential prior to sterilisation and disinfection

Question 22

What is the spaulding classification?

Answer 22

a ranking system for how an object will be disinfected depending on its intended use

Question 23

What objects are critical according to the spaulding classification?

Answer 23

objects which enter normally sterile tissue e.g. surgical instruments, cardiac catheters

Question 24

What objects are semicritical according to the spaulding classification?

Answer 24

objets that touch mucous membranes or skin that is not intact e.g. endoscopes

Question 25

What objects are noncritical according to the spaulding classification?

Answer 25

objects that touch only intact skin

Question 26

What is the method for critical disinfection?

Answer 26

steam for most objects or certain gases or chemicals for heat sensitive objects

Question 27

What is the method for semi critical disinfection?

Answer 27

high level chemical disinfection

Question 28

What is the method for non critical disinfection?

Answer 28

low level chemical disinfection e.g. alcohol

Question 29

What is aseptic non touch technique?

Answer 29

a framework for how to do asepsis in a standardised way - used to prevent contamination of equipment and skin breaches by microorganisms that could cause infection

Question 30

What is sterile?

Answer 30

free from microorganisms

Question 31

What is aseptic?

Answer 31

free from infection or infectious material

Question 32

What is used for skin prep?

Answer 32

alcohol and chlorhexidine or iodine