Custom « Infection Control » Essay Paper Sample

Human beings stay in their environment among various species. Many individuals of the plant and animals kingdoms are infinitesimal and can bring about illness in human beings by a process referred to as infection. However, the state of microscopic organisms being present is not a guarantee of infection. The environment around human beings is full of microscopic organisms, for instance fungi, bacteria, viruses and molds. Under particular conditions, some of the micro-organisms bring about disease while other micro-organisms do not cause disease under the same conditions. There is a variety of micro-organisms that are found on in the tissues and organ systems of human beings on a regular basis; these are called resident or normal flora (Wilson, 2006).

Thus the presence and constant multiplication of the disease causing micro-organisms in a host's tissues and organ systems is referred to as infection. The response of various hosts to this attack and multiplication varies. Signs and symptoms experienced due to the invasion of disease causing organisms, for instance swelling, inflammation, fever, and pain enables recognition of infection. A number of communicable diseases are apparent and bring about severe signs and symptoms. For instance, acute infection of the skin produces swelling, pain, redness, and warmth of the tissue. On the other hand, some infections called subclinical infections may come about with no observable signs, for instance chicken pox in its mild case may remain unrecognized in a baby provided there is no rash (Friedman, 2006).

The means by which micro-organisms move from an infected individual or from physical environmental source via a vulnerable host's portal of entry is called the disease's mode of transmission. The significant component of this infection control is to recognize the mode of transmission of particular disease causing micro-organisms. The following five literature review tries to demonstrate and support this.

In the research article by Wilson (2006), cleaning and disinfecting the surfaces around the patient is part of standard precautions into avoiding further infection. It is very important that all patient-care areas are cleaned and disinfected. For instance, bedside tables, doorknobs, commodes, and bedrails should be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected since they are regularly touched surfaces for the patients. It is evident that in dialysis centers special recommendations concerning cleaning and disinfecting have already been published. It is also clear that in every healthcare setting, staffing, administrative and the scheduling actions should give priority to appropriate cleaning and disinfection of those surfaces that can be concerned in transmission of the disease causing organisms. For the period of a proven epidemic, in which an environmental source is suspected, custom procedures for cleaning should have to be reexamined, and additional trained staff for cleaning should be recruited if the present ones are not enough. Devotion to steady and approved cleaning should be reinforced and monitored.

Use of the readily available facility disinfectant as agreeing to the recommendations of manufacturer's dilution, amount, and time of contact, is enough to do away with pathogens at the surfaces of rooms that were inhabited by the infected individuals. This refers to those disease causing organisms that are stubborn to several groups of antimicrobial agents. Some disease causing organisms, such as noroviruses, rotavirus, and C. difficile were seen to be resistant to some regularly used disinfectants in hospital.

The function of specific disinfectants in preventive transmission of rotavirus has already been confirmed by experiments. It has also been recommended that the use of the house hold bleach and water can do away with C. difficile which can be continuously transmitted incase the usual detergents are used. It was seen that there is need to change disinfectant on the mentioned organisms.

In the research article by Rhinehart and Friedman (2006), gloves are used to avoid contamination of the personnel's hands involved in healthcare when expecting direct contact with patient's mucous membranes, blood and other body fluids, and other apparently infectious material; getting into direct contact with patients infected with disease causing organisms that can be transmitted through contact route ; handling the apparently infected patient care environmental surfaces as well as equipment. Gloves are meant to protect both healthcare personnel and patients from exposure to infected material like needles which they may carry on hands.

So that to select a suitable glove type intended for non-surgical use, one must consider a number of factors, for instance the nature of the task to be executed, predicted contact with chemotherapeutic agents and other chemicals, the sensitivity of latex used, size of the glove as compared to that of the corresponding hand, and the facility regulations for encouraging the creation of a latex-free environment. A single pair is generally enough to give adequate barrier protection against the contact with blood and the other body fluids for the time of non-surgical patient care. The effectiveness of the gloves will be determined by the quality of manufacture and the type of material used to make them. It has been clear from the tests under clinical and simulated conditions that gloves made by the vinyl material have a higher disappointment rates as compared to the ones made by nitrile or latex material.

Because of the above reason the latex and the nitrile gloves are suitable for clinical operations that involve sleight and will require more than short timed patient contact. It may be essential to store gloves in a number of sizes. It is very necessary to discard between patients to prevent transmission of potentially infective material. It is true that gloves must not be reused because the disease causing organism cannot be easily removed from the surface of the glove.

In the research article by Kennamer (2007), prevention of disease is the solution to public health. It can be seen that prevention of an infection from a disease is better than treating the disease itself. Vaccines are used to avoid the disease causing organisms from infecting people who receive them as well as protecting those people who get into contact with the individuals who have not been vaccinated. Vaccines assist to prevent contagious diseases hence saving lives. Most of the contagious diseases like diphtheria polio, whooping cough, measles, rubella, tetanus, Haemophilus influenza type B, and mumps, vaccines are dependable for their control. The diseases which can be prevented by vaccination are very dangerous if an individual is not vaccinated against them, they impose a costly impact, result into a doctor's frequent visits, need for hospitalization, and can even result into untimely death (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006). The sick kids can as well waste their parents' time which could be used productively used at work.

Most of the antibodies in the blood stream vanish once they do away with the invading antigens, while the white cells which are involved in antibody manufacturing remain and turn into memory cells. These memory cells retain the information concerning the original antigen and afterwards protect against it that time the antigen will attempt to re-infect the same individual even if it means many years coming. This mechanism is referred to as immunity.

The vaccines also have similar antigens that cause disease, but in this case the antigens are much weakened to avoid putting the individual under vaccination into problems. By the time the vaccines are injected into muscles, the antigens of the vaccine are not any strong hence symptoms and signs of the disease cannot show up. Instead these antigens stimulate the production of the corresponding antibodies. Therefore, in the course of vaccination, children build up immunity with no suffering from the real diseases that vaccines stop.

In the research article by Kennamer (2007), it is clear that effective cleaning of hands before coming into contact with food is the most significant measure used to combat the spread of disease causing organisms. This has also been documented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hand wash is a mandate in almost all countries incase of health care contexts (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2006).

Drying is a very important part of the process of hand hygiene. In November 2008, a study of non-peer-reexamined got presented by the University of Westminster to the European Tissue Symposium, comparing the levels of bacteria existing following the use of warm air hand dryers, modern jet-air hand dryers, and paper towels. The paper towels proved to diminish the total number of bacteria on hands. In the research article by Kennamer (2007), the mixture of detergents and hot water used in dishwashers is enough to disinfect eating utensils and dishware.

No special safety measures are required for eating utensils or dishware; reusable utensils and dishware may be of use to patients needing Transmission-Based Precautions. Drinking vessels and eating utensils should not be shared at communal settings as well as at home. And this is goes hand in hand with ethics of excellent personal hygiene as well as for the intention to avoid transmission of viruses that affect the respiratory system, Herpes simplex virus, and other contagious agents that contaminate the gastrointestinal tract. In case there are no sufficient resources for utensil and dish cleansing; then the best alternative is to use the disposable products.