L4 Infection Control Flashcards
Requirements for successful infection control
- interrupt transmission
- understand pathogens
Sterilisation vs disinfection
Sterilisation—the killing or removal of all viable organisms, including spores
• Endospores—survival strategy for Clostridium spp. and Bacillus spp.
Disinfection—the killing of many but not all microorganisms
• Reduction of bacterial load
• Decrease likelihood of reaching infective dose
Infectious disease risks associated with the healthcare environment
risk of infectious disease can be from environmental sources (e.g. surfaces, instruments, medical supplies)
Infection control methods in HC setting
there are standard precautions:
hand hygiene
PPE
environmental controls: waste and spill management.
Contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.
MROs (multi-resistant organisms)
why are in-patients more vulnerable to infectious diseases and describe approaches to aid in-patients resisting infection
In-patients are more vulnerable to infectious disease because of the concentration of infective persons, repeated contact w/ equipment, staff, and the health care environment is a reservoir of non-typical pathogens/highly resistant organisms.
consequences of hospital infections
increased risk of resistance, side effects (toxicity), need for antibiotics, prolonged hospital stays, costs, serious illness or death.
Potential routes of infection
3 most common:
• Airborne transmission
• Direct/indirect contact
• Faecal-oral
- vector-borne
- sexual
sterilisation methods
heat
dry heat
irradiation
uv radiation
disinfection methods
pasteurisation
filtration
chemical disinfectants: efficiency depends of external factors like physical environment, temp etc.
the 4 stages: the transfer of resistance genes
- Transformation
- Transduction via bacteriophage
- Conjugation (bacterial mating)
- Transposition (through transposons)
4 antibiotic resistance mechanisms
- Production of enzymes (destroys antibiotics)
- Alteration in the bacterial cell binding sites
- Change in membrane permeability (drug can no longer penetrate cell)
- Producing alternate metabolic pathways/drug efflux pump
name some human practices that can lead to antibiotic resistance
- Wrong dosage on antibiotic use. poor prescribing; antibiotic dosage too low
- Using antibiotics as the first treatment rather than opting for alternatives to build resistance… poor prescribing of using antibiotics to a patient with a viral infection
- Poor patient adherence: patient does not complete course of antibiotics
What is meant by MRSA? Describe its key virulence factors and pathophysiology.
MRSA = methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
- highly resistant to range of antibiotics*
- difficult to treat, associated with increased virulence: poor patient outcomes, leads to sepsis, infective endocarditis
- Become resistant to MANY FIRST-LINE ANTIBIOTICS
- Epidemic-MRSA resistant to additional classes of antibiotics
Remember: Virulence factors: factors that increases a viruses infection, resistance.. etc
Describe the three different types of fungal infections and give medically relevant examples of each type.
- Superficial mycoses
- Subcutaneous mycoses
- Systemic mycoses
e. g. candida spp.(yeast) and aspergillus spp.
Describe the three different types of parasites and give medically relevant examples of each type.
- Helminths (worms): pinworm
- Protozoa:
- Arthropods
