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The short essay in the epidemiology of nosocomial infections
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E. faecalis accounts for many nosocomial infections in hospitals. An increase in devises such as IV’s and catheters are linked to the leading cause of infections. They are mostly isolated from samples of human intestine. They are normal inhabitants for urinary tract infections, bacteremia, meningitis and wounds. These infections mostly occur after abdominal surgery. Urinary tract infections are said to be the third most common diseases E. faecalis can cause.
Urinary tract infection also known as (UTI) is an infection in any part of your urinary system. It includes your kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. However UTI gets serious when it spreads to your kidneys. Urinary tract infection occurs by the entrance of a bacterium into the urinary tract and begins to reproduce in the bladder. When that happens, bacteria may take over and grow into an infection in the urinary tract.
There are two types of bladder infections; one is cystitis a type of UTI usually caused by E. coli, bacteria found in the gastrointestinal tract. It can also be acquired through sexual intercourse but not always. The body structure of women is always at risk of this type of bladder infection due to the distance from the urethra to the bladder. Another bladder infection is urethritis a type of UTI which can occur when gestational tract bacteria spread from the anus to the urethra. This also leads to sexual infections, such as herpes, gonorrhea and chlamydia. Women are at greater risk of developing a UTI than men.
Signs and symptoms of UTI may include a strong urge to urinate with a burning sensation when urinating. A person with UTI tends to pass frequent and small amounts of urine. Urine also appears cloudy; a sign of blood in the urine with a strong-smell....
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...lycosides and at times vancomycin are said to be a drug resistant to E. faecalis. However with disinfectants, E. faecalis is resistant to hydrogen peroxide and susceptible to alcohol. This pathogen is inactive or destroyed when it’s in a temperature above 80 degrees Celsius. Outside of host, E. faecalis can survive in harsh surroundings comprising of plants, soil, water and food. They can also tolerate lengthy periods of food deprivation. Antibiotic resistance also known as optochin makes treatment of an infection caused by E.faecalis difficult to cure.
In conclusion E. faecalis can cause severe life-threating disease in humans and mammals especially in our health care environments. They have increased in antibiotic resistance and are also becoming very challenging for physicians to treat. Recently stronger and more specific antibiotics are being newly developed.
Clostridium difficile, otherwise known as C. diff, is a species of spore-forming, anaerobic, gram-positive bacteria that is known to cause watery diarrhea. 1 The genus name, Clostridium refers to the spindle shape of the organism while Difficile means difficult in Latin due to the fact that this organism thrives in unfavorable conditions and is very difficult to isolate.4 The incidence of getting CDI has increased over the years due to new strains of increased toxin production of the bacteria and increased resistance to antibiotics.2 It is a gastrointestinal infection, and the most common cause of infectious diarrhea.1 C. difficile was first identified in the feces of healthy newborns back in the 1930’s and by 1935, it was considered normal flora. 2 During 1974, researchers conducted that about 21% of patients that were treated with an antibiotic called clindamyacin reported diarrhea and about 10% of them reported to have conducted pseudomembranous colitis as a side effect of this treatment. 2 It was in 1978 where C. diff had been known to cause anti-biotic associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. 2 It is known to form spores that resist many disinfectants; it also survives for several months on different surfaces.1 It is a common form of a nosocomial infection and the prevalence of becoming infected with C. diff is about 0-15% in a health care setting. 3 The spores survive well in environments such as soil, water and animals and is distributed worldwide. 4 CDI produces two toxins (Toxin A and B), which are cytotoxic and cause tissue necrosis.4
Symptoms for urethritis are mild including frequency of urination and pyuria (presence of white blob cells in the urine). Cystitis (bladder infection) symptoms are easier to distinguish and include back pain, concentrated appearance, urgency, hematuria (presence of red blood cells in the urine), a...
Urinary Tract Infection, also known as UTI, occurs in two common locations, the bladder and kidneys. The kidneys are important organs that aid in filtering out waste products from blood and maintaining water distribution throughout the body. The waste products are filtered out via bladder, which is the reason of the bladder being the second site for the infection. A normal human being has two kidneys, one on left and right side, a bean shaped organ, and is located at the back of the abdomen. “Each kidney is about 11.5 cm long, 5-7.5 cm broad, 5 cm thick, and weight about 150 grams” (HealthInfoNet, Paragraph 2). Furthermore, a bacterium named Escherichia coli lives in both the kidneys and the GI tract. E. coli is part of the human body and produces
The urinary tract consists of two kidneys, to ureters, urethra, and the urinary bladder. The urinary system works to remove waste from the body, maintain homeostasis of water, blood pressure, and regulate the body’s pH levels. The kidneys regulate several important internal conditions by excreting substances out into the body. After urine has been produced in the kidneys it is then transported to the urinary bladder via the ureters. The urinary bladder then holds the urine until the body is ready for excretion through the urethra.
symptoms are not always present, you may be infected with gonorrhea and not know it. If present, symptoms may appear within 2 to 14 days. Fifty percent of people with gonorrhea show no symptoms. Men are more likely than women to show signs of infection. Gonorrhea in men can cause painful urination, creamy or green pus-like penile discharge, and testicular pain.
Clinical Infectious Diseases, 49(3), 438-443. Doi:10.1086/600391. See full address and map. Medicare.gov/Hospital Compare - The Official U.S. Government Site for Medicare (n.d).
"Bloodborne Pathogens : MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2014.
E. Coli 0157, written by Mary Heersink, is a nerve-racking, adrenaline-filled story of a mother's experience with a then unknown deadly bacteria. The book brings up many reactions in its readers, especially the questioning of the practice of doctors in hospitals. The reader's knowledge base of scientific procedures in emergency centers was widened as well as the knowledge of how to the human body reacts to different agents in its system.
Bacterial resistance to antibiotics has presented many problems in our society, including an increased chance of fatality due to infections that could have otherwise been treated with success. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections, but overexposure to these drugs give the bacteria more opportunities to mutate, forming resistant strains. Through natural selection, those few mutated bacteria are able to survive treatments of antibiotics and then pass on their genes to other bacterial cells through lateral gene transfer (Zhaxybayeva, 2011). Once resistance builds in one patient, it is possible for the strain to be transmitted to others through improper hygiene and failure to isolate patients in hospitals.
Hospital acquired infections are one of the most common complications of care in the hospital setting. Hospital acquired infections are infections that patients acquired during the stay in the hospital. These infections can cause an increase in the number of days the patients stay in the hospital. Hospital acquired infections make the patients worse or even cause death. “In the USA alone, hospital acquired infections cause about 1.7 million infections and 99,000 deaths per year”(secondary).
You should keep up your hygiene to prevent UTIs. Following urinating or a bowel movement, wipe front to back. It helps avoid bacteria in your anal region from entering the urethra and the vagina. Don’t attempt to reach from behind as bacteria from the anus may be transferred to your hand and the tissue. Do not...
A urinary tract infection is a very common infection that can happen to anybody. A urinary tract infection usually occurs when bacteria enters the urethra and multiples in the urinary system. The Urinary tract includes the kidneys, the thin tubes that carry urine from the kidneys to the bladder (ureters), and the main tube that carries the urine from the bladder (urethra). Women, men, and children are all immune to this infection. Women have the highest chances of getting it. In the Urinary tract, the main links of the ureters help get rid of any bacteria that tries to enter the urine, and the bladder helps prevent urine from backing up into the kidneys.
Cystitis is the medical term for inflammation of the urinary bladder. Most of the time, the inflammation is caused by a bacterial infection, and it’s called a urinary tract infection. A bladder infection can be painful and annoying, and it can become a serious health problem if the infection spreads to your kidney.
It is estimated that over one-half of the antibiotics in the U.S. are used in food animal production. The overuse of antimicrobials in food animal production is an under-appreciated problem. In both human and veterinary medicine, the risk of developing resistance rises each time bacteria are exposed to antimicrobials. Resistance opens the door to treatment failure for even the most common pathogens and leads to an increasing number of infections. The mounting evidence of the relationship between antimicrobial use in animal husbandry and the increase in bacterial resistance in humans has prompted several reviews of agricultural practices by scientific authorities in a number of countries, including the US.
The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant bacteria,