Question

dewit

deWit: Medical-Surgical Nursing, 3rd Edition Chapter 06: Infection Prevention and Control Open-Book Quiz NAME: 1. What are the factors that influence infectious disease? 2. How are pathogens transmitted from one person to another? 3. Explain the importance of identifying bacteria using the Gram stain. 4. Name the four primary lines of defense the body has against infection. 5. Explain the difference between mechanical barriers and chemical barriers. 6. Describe the systemic reactions to inflammation 7. What are the three most important aspects of the infection chain? 8. How do medical asepsis and surgical asepsis differ? 9. When you obtain a culture, what precautions should be noted? 10. How does stress impact the immune system?

Answer 1

1. Factors influencing infectious diseases

The factors that influence infectious diseases are agent, host and environment factors which are also known as the epidemiological triad.

• Agent is the organism causing the infection. The characteristic of the causative organism influences infection because it requires different conditions to thrive and also its virulence, the extent to which it can cause a severe disease.
• Host is the person who gets the infections. The physical and genetic factors affect a person’s risk of getting and infection. Eg Poor immunity is a risk factor for getting an infection.
• Environment is the surrounding and if it is favourable for an organism it spreads easily. Eg Water borne diseases spreads easily in areas where water is contaminated.

2. Pathogens are transmitted from one person to another by different modes. The common modes of transmission are air, water, animals, blood and fomites (through non living objects). Diseases like respiratory infections spreads through droplets in air when a person with such infection sneezes or coughs. Diarrheal diseases like cholera spread through contaminated water. Zoonotic diseases spreads from animals like swine flu. Infections like HIV spreads through blood and body fluids from one person to another person. Certain infections can spread through contaminated objects or fomites like MRSA infections. There are also sexually transmitted diseases.

3. Gram staining is used to improve the visualization of cells and cell organelles which helps in identifying the characteristics of bacteria. Based on the staining characteristic bacteria can be classified as gram positive or gram negative. This will help in diagnosing the patient with the type of organism causing the infection and therefore helping in the treatment.

4. Skin is the first line of defense body has against infections. Any break in the integrity of the skin increases the risk of infection. Body fluids like tears, mucus contains lysosymes that can kill the pathogens. White blood cells or leukocytes in the blood fights against microbes. Fever and inflammatory response are also defense mechanisms.