Infection control policy and

procedures and relevant

industry codes of practice

WHAT IS INFECTION?
An infection is the invasion of body tissues by disease-causing
microorganisms, their multiplication and the reaction of body
tissues to these microorganisms and the toxins that they produce.
Infections are caused by microorganisms such as viruses, prions,
bacteria, and viroids, though larger organisms like macroparasites
and fungi can also infect.

WHAT IS INFECTION?
Hosts normally fight infections themselves via their immune
system.
Mammalian hosts react to infections with an innate response,
often involving inflammation, followed by an adaptive response.
Pharmaceuticals can also help fight infections.

WHAT IS INFECTION?
The branch of medicine that focuses on infections and pathogens
is infectious disease medicine.
Infections are classified in multiple ways.
They are classified by the causative agent as well as by the
constellation of symptoms and medical signs that are produced.

WHAT IS INFECTION?
An infection that produces symptoms is an apparent infection.
An infection that is active, but does not produce noticeable
symptoms, may be called inapparent, silent, or subclinical.
An infection that is inactive or dormant is called a latent
infection.
A short-term infection is an acute infection.
A long-term infection is a chronic infection.

Occult infection
An occult or asymptomatic infection is medical terminology for a "hidden"
infection, that is, one that presents no symptoms verifiable and recognizable
by a doctor.
Dr. Fran Giampietro discovered this type, and coined the term "occult
infection" in the late 1930s.
Diagnosis of infections can be difficult as specific signs and symptoms are rare.
If an infection is suspected, blood, urine and sputum cultures are usually the
first step.
Chest x-rays and stool analysis may also aid diagnosis.
Spinal fluid can be tested to ensure that there is no brain infection

Signs and symptoms

The symptoms of an infection depend on the type of disease.
Some signs of infection affect the whole body generally, such as
fatigue, loss of appetite, weight loss, fevers, night sweats, chills,
aches and pains.
Others are specific to individual body parts, such as skin rashes,
coughing, or a runny nose.

Bacterial or viral
Bacterial and viral infections can both cause the same kinds of
symptoms.
It can be difficult to distinguish which is the cause of a specific
infection.
It's important to distinguish, because viral infections cannot be
cured by antibiotics.

Comparison of viral and bacterial infection

Pathophysiology
There is a general chain of events that applies to infections. For
infections to occur a given chain of events must occur.
The chain of events involves several stepswhich include the
infectious agent, reservoir, entering a susceptible host, exit and
transmission to new hosts.
Each of the links must be present in a chronological order for an
infection to develop.
Understanding these steps helps health care workers target the
infection and prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Chain of Infection

Infectious agents
Infectious agents may include the following:
virus
fungus
bacterium
parasite
helminthes (worms)
humans
Fomites
inanimate objects

Reservoir
the place/organism in which pathogens grow and reproduce.
May include man and animals.

Portal of exit from reservoir

escape routes of pathogens which include nose, throat, mouth,
ear, eye, intestinal tract, urinary tracts and wounds

Mode/vehicle of transmission
it is the means by which pathogens are carried about which
includes the hands, equipment, instruments, linens, droplets,
utensils

Portal of entry
is the way for pathogens to enter the host such as:
direct contact (touch, sexual contact, kissing, etc)
indirect contact (through contaminated food, water, etc)

Susceptible hosts
specifically are a person who does not have immunity to the
pathogens.

 A health care facility may adopt its own infection control policies
and practices.
However, the procedures generally follow the recommendations
from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
This is a federal agency that studies pathogens, outbreaks of
contagious diseases and methods used to control these outbreaks.

Management systems and

procedures
for infection control

How can we break the chain of infection?

Preventing infection means looking at your habits, lifestyles, and
surroundings and assessing for those things that may promote
infection.
By identifying those things in the infection chain, we can take
steps to eliminate them.

How can we break the chain of infection?

For instance:
Practice good personal hygiene
Treat all bodily fluids as potentially infectious.
Use protective barriers such as gloves, masks, aprons, and
condoms when exposure to infections agents is possible.
Maintain a clean home and environment.
Store and cook foods at the proper temperature.
Proper disposal of wastes, garbage, and used medical supplies
See your doctor regularly for protective vaccines and
immunizations.

The 2 methods are:

1. Surgical Asepsis
refers to the practice that eliminates the presence of all
microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeasts, protozoa, etc.)
This practice is sterilization.

The 2 methods are:

2. Medical Asepsis
refers to practices that help reduce the number and inhibit
the growth of microorganisms, especially pathogens (those that
cause diseases)
This is also called clean technique which includes use of
antimicrobial agents, hand washing, cleaning supplies and
equipment and disinfection.

Hand Washing
when done correctly, is the single most effective way to prevent
the spread of communicable diseases.
Good hand washing technique is easy to learn and can significantly
reduce the spread of infectious diseases among both children and
adults.

What is good hand washing technique?

There is more to hand washing than you think!
By rubbing your hands vigorously with soapy water, you pull the
dirt and the oily soils free from your skin.
The soap lather suspends both the dirt and germs trapped inside
and are then quickly washed away.

Four simple steps to keeping hands clean:

Wet your hands with warm running water.
Add soap, then rub your hands together, making a soapy lather. Do
this away from the running water for at least 20 seconds, being
careful not to wash the lather away. Wash the front and back of
your hands, as well as between your fingers and under your nails.
Rinse your hands well under warm running water. Let the water
run back into the sink, not down to your elbows.
Dry hands thoroughly with a clean towel. Then turn off the water
with a clean paper towel and dispose in a proper receptacle.

When to do hand washing:

1. Before touching your face, nose, mouth or eyes with your hand
especially when youve been in public places
2. After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing
3. Before and after tending to someone who is sick
4. Before and after bed making

When to do hand washing:

5. Before preparing food or after touching raw food, esp. meat
and eating
6. After using the toilet
7. After handling garbage/rubbish
8. Before and after treating a wound
9. Before and after handling any hospital equipment

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

refers to clothing and respiratory apparatus designed to shield an
individual from chemical, biological and physical hazards
Is any type of face masks, gloves or clothing that acts as a barrier
between infectious materials and the skin, mouth, nose or eyes.
When used properly, can help prevent the spread of infection from
one person to another

Goggles
Eye protection is protective gear for the eyes, which comes in
many types depending upon the threat that is to be reduced.
The threats can be particles, light, wind blast, heat, sea spray or
some type of ball or puck used in sports.
Goggles are forms of protective eyewear that usually enclose or
protect the eye area in order to prevent particulates, infectious
fluids, or chemicals from striking the eyes.

Face mask
Is a loose-fitting, disposable device that creates a physical barrier
between the mouth and nose of the wearer and the potential
contaminants in the immediate environment
If worn properly, is meant to help block large-particle droplets,
splashes, sprays or splatter that may contain germs (viruses and
bacteria) from reaching your mouth and nose
Are not intended to be used more than once. If mask is damaged
or soiled or if breathing becomes difficult, remove the mask and
discard safely and replace with a new one

Gloves
are disposable protective equipment worn on hands and are used
during medical examinations and procedures that help prevent
contamination between health care providers and patients
Medical gloves are made of different polymers including latex,
nitrile rubber, vinyl and neoprene
they come unpowdered, or powdered with cornstarch to lubricate
the gloves, making them easier to put on the hands

When to use medical gloves?

Use medical gloves when your hands or nails may touch someone
elses body fluids such as blood, respiratory secretions, vomit,
urine, feces or certain hazardous drugs.

What you should know before using medical

gloves:
1. Wash your hands before putting on medical/sterile gloves
2. Make sure your gloves fit properly for you to wear them
comfortably during all patient care activities
3. If you are allergic to rubber latex, choose gloves made from
polyvinyl chloride or nitrile
4. Be aware that sharp objects can puncture medical gloves
5. Always change your gloves if they rip or tear

What you should know before using medical

gloves:
6. After removing gloves, wash your hands thoroughly with soap
and water
7. Never reuse medical gloves
8. Never wash or disinfect medical gloves
9. Never share medical gloves with other users

Surgical Gown
is a garment worn during medical procedures to help prevent
contamination between health care providers and patients.
The purpose of surgical gowns and other protective clothing is not
only to keep bacteria from entering surgical wounds, but to also
protect the surgical staff from blood, urine, saline, or other
chemicals and bodily fluids during surgical procedures.

Transmission and control of

Communicable diseases

Communicable Disease
A communicable disease is carried by microorganisms and
transmitted through people, animals, surfaces, foods, or air.
Communicable diseases rely on fluid exchange, contaminated
substances, or close contact to travel from an infected carrier to a
healthy individual.

Communicable Disease
The disease might need a blood exchange via an injection, float
along a sneeze in a movie theater, or get transmitted through
childbirth.
Examples of communicable diseases include herpes, malaria,
mumps, HIV/AIDS, influenza, chicken pox, ringworm, and
whooping cough.
Cancer, on the other hand, is not a communicable disease.

Communicable Disease
Parasites, bacteria, and viruses all qualify as pathogens, nicknamed
"germs," and can cause acommunicable disease.
Their method of transmission, period of dormancy, ease of
contagiousness, and relative danger can differ drastically from one
disease to the next.
Governmental health agencies spend a great deal of time and
money studying the risk or spread of various contagious diseases in
order to identify outbreaks, prevent reoccurrences, or develop
treatments.
They compile statistics such as incidence, which measures how
many new cases are diagnosed per year, and prevalence, which
identifies how many cases exist at any one time.

 The study of a communicable disease may intersect with issues of

sewage systems, weather patterns, vaccinations, available medical
care, public education, travel restrictions, water purity, and social
interactions.
Health officials work to inform the public on high-risk epidemics,
such as one strain of flu or a new variety of herpes.
Then they can reduce their exposure with preventative measures
such as avoiding risky behaviors or getting vaccinated.
Methods of transmission are usually well known, and can therefore
be circumvented.

 A human-to-human communicable disease could be passed through

blood, mucus, uterine fluid, breast milk, semen, saliva, or breath.
Often, these are prevented by safer sex, frequent hand washing,
proper disposal of waste, etc., but might be accidentally acquired
by touching a doorknob someone else has used.

 Animal-to-human transmission includes rabies acquired from a dog

or squirrel bite, malaria from mosquitoes, and Lyme's Disease from
fleas and ticks.
Other kinds of transmission rely on a contaminated surface or
substance. This might be improperly cooked meat causing
salmonella poisoning or impure water causing dysentery.