Introduction The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines multi-drug resistant organisms (MDROs) “as microorganisms, predominantly bacteria that are resistant to one or more classes of antimicrobial agents” ("Management of multidrug-resistant organism," 2006). The following list represents widely known MDROs: MSSA, or “Methicillin Sensitive Staphlococcus Aureus”, which responds well to typical antibiotics; MRSA, or “Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus”. This bacterium also resistant to oxacillin and cefoxitin medications; VRE, or “Vancomycin Resistant Enterococcus”, bacteria resistant to vancomycin medication; CephR-Klebsiella, “Cephalosporin Resistant Klebsiella”, or any Klebsiella bacteria, that is resistant to ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, or cefepime mediactions; CRE-Klebsiella, or “Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae”, or any Klebsiella bacteria resistant to mipenem, meropenem, or doripenem medications; CRE-Ecoli, or “Carbapenem Resistant Enterobacteriaceae”, or any E. coli bacteria resistant to imipenem, meropenem, or doripenem medications; MDR-Acinetobacter, “Multi Drug Resistant” Acinetobacter bacteria - resistant to at least one agent in at least 3 antimicrobial classes of the following 6 antimicrobial classes: Table 1 ("Multi-drug resistant organisms," 2014). According to CDC approximately one out in 20 patients hospitalized in United States will contract a health care associated infection (HAI), many of which attributed to MDROs(3). The increase in numbers of patients becoming infected with MDROs makes prevention and control a priority in nation’s hospitals and health care stings. Table 1. ("Multi-drug resistant organisms," 2014)) β-lactam/β-lactam β-lactamase inhibitor combination ... ... middle of paper ... ...water physically displaces bacteria spores that are not reliably killed with alcohol-based hand rubs”(9). Hand should be washed for at least 15 seconds, covering all surfaces of fingers and hands; wash hands before and after any contact with a patient; before and after donnng steril gloves; before handling any invasive medical devise; after contact with any bodu scretions; after contact with equipment or other object near a patient; before eating; after using a restroom; if bacterial exposure is suspected. Conclusion Increase in MDRO s in acute health care settings is real and present treat to health and lives of patients and medical staff. Understanding of possible complications, education promotion on all levels and strict adherence to safe cleaning measures play a crucial part in managing MDROs and its prevention, as well as mortality rates and associated costs.
• Wash your hands thoroughly before and after preparing food and after using the bathroom. Make sure people who live with you wash their hands often too. If soap and water are not available, use hand sanitizer.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria are created when mutations in the pathogen's genetic code occurs, changing the protein in the bacteria that the antibiotics normally go after into a shape that the antibiotic can not recognize. The average bacteria divides every twenty minutes, so if a contaminated spot has one single bacteria in the morning, there could be trillions on that same spot at the end of the day. That means that when counting all the possibilities of mutations, the amount of mutated offspring that the bacteria might have formed during those replications could be as high as in the millions. Fortunately though, this does not happen so frequently that it is normally an issue. The amount of non-mutated bacteria vastly outnumbers the mutated ones and many of the mutations occurring in the bacteria usually have either a harmful effect, or not effect at all on its function. That means that the pathogen is still relatively less harmful than it c...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), describes antibiotic resistance is the ability of bacteria or other microbes to resist the effects of antibiotic treatment. () So instead of being destroyed by the medications, the bacteria survives and continues to reproduce, resultant in new communicable diseases that even more difficult to treat.
This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As
Health care facilities - whether hospitals, nursing homes or outpatient facilities - can be dangerous places for the acquisition of infections (EHA). The most common type of nosocomial infections are surgical wound infections, respiratory infections, genitourinary infections and gastrointestinal infection (EHA). Nosocomial infections are those that originate or occur in health care setting (Abedon). They can also be defined as those that occur within 48 hours of hospital admission, 3 days of discharge or 30 days of an operation (Inweregbu). These infections are often caused by breaches of infection control practices and procedures, unclean and non-sterile environmental surfaces, and ill employees (EHA). Immunocompromised patients, the elderly and young children are usually more susceptible to these types of infections. Nosocomial infections are transmitted through direct contact from the hospital staff, inadequately sterilized instruments, aerosol droplets from other ill patients or even the food and water provided at the hospital (EHA). The symptoms of nosocomial infections vary by type but may include inflammation, discharge, fever, abscesses, and pain and irritation at the infection site (Stubblefield).
Klebsiella pneumonia is a gram-negative, encapsulated, lactose-fermenting, non-motile, facultative anaerobic, urease positive, indole-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is in the Enterobacteriaceae family (Tufts University, n.d.). Klebsiella is typically found in the nose or mouth, gastrointestinal tract (CDC, 2012). Klebsiella pneumonia was first discovered in 1882 as a pathogen that caused pneumonia (). Klebsiella can cause various types of health-related infections in the bloodstream, wound, and also surgical site infections (CDC, 2012). A common place to become infected with Klebsiella is the hospital settings, while being treated for other illnesses. Patients who get infected this way typically are on a ventilator or intravenous catheters (CDC, 2012). Klebsiella was named after Edwin Klebs, who was a German microbiologist (Obiamiwe, 2013).
Antibiotic resistance is a consequence of the misuse of antibiotics that give pathogenic bacteria the ability to withstand the effects of an antibiotic. Resistance occurs when bacteria change in such a way that they survive exposure to antibiotics. Resistance may not be confined to a single antibiotic, but may affect multiple antimicrobial classes. Antibiotic resistance is a major problem and everyone needs to work together to combat it - from medical practitioners to patients.
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.
In the documentary, Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria, reporter David Hoffman investigates this new untreatable infection along two individuals and a bacterial virus within a hospital. The first individual Hoffman investigates is Addie Rerecich of Arizona, she was treated for a staph infection with antibiotics, but other complications arise. Addie had a lung transplant, she was given several different antibiotics, but her body became pan-bacteria, non-resistance to the bacteria. Addie’s life was on the edge, she had to be on life support, and finally she received new lungs. The transplant helped Addie but it would take years before could go back to normal before the infection. The second individual is David Ricci; he had his leg amputated in India after a train accident. The antibiotic treatment he received became toxic to his body increasing problems. While in India, he underwent surgery almost every day because of infections he was developing. Back in Seattle, doctors found the NDM-1 resistance gene in his body; NDM-1 gene is resistance to almost all antib...
Enterococcus faecalis is a genus of gram positive cocci and form short chains or are arranged in pairs. They are nonmotile, facultative anaerobic organisms and can survive in harsh conditions in nature. There are over 15 species of the Enterococcus genus but about 90% of clinical isolates are E. faecalis. E. faecalis is a nosocomial pathogen because it is commonly found in the hospital environment and can cause life-threatening infections in humans. It is a bacterium that normally inhabits the intestinal tract in humans and animals but when found in other body locations it can cause serious infections. The most common sites for E. faecalis infections are the heart, bloodstream, urinary tract, and skin wounds. Due to vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, many antibiotics have been shown ineffective in the treatment. In this paper, I will describe the ecology and pathology of E. faecalis; the antibacterial resistance; treatment; and, what you can do to prevent Enterococcus infection.
This turn of events presents us with an alarming problem. Strains of bacteria that are resistant to all prescribed antibiotics are beginning to appear. As a result, diseases such as tuberculosis and penicillin-resistant gonorrhea are reemerging on a worldwide scale (1). Resistance first appears in a population of bacteria through conditions that favor its selection. When an antibiotic attacks a group of bacteria, cells that are highly susceptible to the medicine will die.
The systematic review; Interventions to improve hand hygiene compliance in patient care, conducted by the Cochrane Collaboration investigated inventions to improve hand hygiene compliance within patient care. The review included 2 original studies with an additional two new studies (Gould & Moralejo et al., 2010). Throughout the review it was affirmed that among hand hygiene is an indispensable method in the prevention of hospital-acquired infections (HAI), the compliance among nurses’ is inadequate. Nurses are identified within the public as dependable and trustworthy in a time of vulnerability due to their specialised education and skills (Hughes, 2008). Thus, it is imperative that evidence based practice is cond...
Medical asepsis plays an integral role in infection control within a health care facility. It includes procedures used to decrease and prevent direct contact with blood or bodily fluids and emphasizes keeping the environment clean on a regular basis (Curchoe, Astle, & Hobbs, 2014). In order to achieve optimal health, individuals depend on practices and techniques that control and ultimately prevent the transmission of infection. These practices and techniques can help avoid the transmission of infections by creating an environment that protects both health care workers and patients from communicable diseases. Good hand hygiene has been stressed as the single most important measure to prevent cross-infection to patients in health care facilities
Infection control is very important in the health care profession. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, allow themselves to become susceptible to a number of infections. Among the most dreaded of these infections are: hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another infection which has more recently increased in prevalence is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are all treated differently. Each infection has its own symptoms, classifications, and incubation periods. These infections are transmitted in very similar fashions, but they do not all target the same population.
“Researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented” (“Hygiene Fast Facts”, 2013, p. 1). Hands are the number one mode of transmission of pathogens. Hands are also vital in patient interaction, and therefore should be kept clean to protect the safety of patients and the person caring for the patient. Hand hygiene is imperative to professional nursing practice because it prevents the spread of pathogens, decreases chances of hospital-acquired infections, and promotes patient safety. There is a substantial amount of evidence that shows why hand hygiene is important in healthcare