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What factors do you believe play a role in NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS (hospital aquired)??
Free of blaming, assuming or anything lets say is unproductive Let us brainstorm a few ideas on causes of nosocomial infection. Share your wisdom please. Feel free to share your stories as well. . . stories shape our culture and initiate change!!
Take into account problems with
HOST DEFENSES
we all know that a person who is on antibiotic treatment or chemotherapy become suseptible but what can we empower a patient to do to stay as immuno-protected as possible--
ie what role does the health of our GUT play in making us suseptible?
what role does hygeine and mobility play in making us suseptible?
ENVIRONMENT
We all know people feel like it is a terrible thing to go to the hospital thinking they may come down with something worse than they went in for, we have also heard the horror stories. What sorts of things in the environment could make patients less suseptible, and what is making them more suseptible.
look at things like Jessica Green's talk on microbial diversity in the air
MIND/BODY RELATIONSHIP
what role does percieved isolation, loss of hope, worthlessness, cause the body to be suseptible
If there is a good response to do so I will update the question with an outline of the responses to save people energy in sorting through all of the responses and will time stamp the last update at the bottom of this page.
Parthasarathy Ponguri
ralph haulk
It was then I hit on the "cockroach theory of history". If we trey to poison cockroaches, and they now get fat off things that used to kill them, why wouldn't microbes adapt in the same fashion to our attempts to kill them off? I asked my instructor why wouldn;t germs develop immunities to penicillin, since germs themselves are seeking a toehold on survival the same as any organism.
I had stumbled on an idea that later became known as epigenetics. Viruses inform bacteria, and by a cut and paste of DNA, they constantly inform different species and cause necesary adaptation at the cellular level. The more we try to kill them off, the more they adapt like the cockroaches, and we have to deal with the consequences. Many familiar with epigenetics now suggest we learn to live cooperatively with germs, instead of trying to kill them.
Autumn Frisco 10+
If we draw awareness to the risk would it create fear or help patients?
my thoughts are they already have fear and they may trust the institution for being up front about the issue
Salim Solaiman 50+
Following points also plays a role
Non compliance to anti-biotic leading resistance & hospital got all kind of patients so it can harbour those rsistant microbes.
Inadequate & irresponsible use of antibiotics by doctors in many part of the world is also cause of resistance to antibiotic hence emergence of so called super bug.
Even a very effective antibiotic to certain microbes in hospital setting can cause nosovomial infection of other microbes to which that antibiotic is not effective. With in body actually due to inter and intra specific competition in normal situation there is a balanced population of different parasitic and non parasitic microbes. Killing one or other microbes effectivley by antibiotics opens up the opportunity for other microbes to grow exponentially. If that is an resistant one , then one might end up having another infection.
Last not least hospitalized patients means , their host defence mechanism might not be at optimal level , so that also makes them susceptible to nosocomial infection.
Please these are some thoughts not being a scietist or doctor , so might have some flaw, so would be grateful if anyone points out that.....so can learn
jeffrey friesen 20+
ralph haulk
Autumn Frisco 10+
Stevan S.
However, what worries me the most is the new generation of ultra-resistant microorganisms, emerging as immune survivors from the bombardment of antibiotics, used extensively in hospital environments to maintain sterility. Such breeds (MRSA, VRE, Tuberculosis etc.) lead to practically incurable illnesses. Honestly, this issue lacks proper attention.
Autumn Frisco 10+
What do you believe is the root of the 'unprofessional behavior' that you speak of, what factors are leading to the lack of proper hygiene and disregard of proper sterile technique ect ?
Gerry O'Connor
Gerry O'Connor
Autumn Frisco 10+
hand sanitizer: pump in and out
1) lost sense of need for hand-washing
2)could this impair our body's defenses against the microbes it comes into contact with, would this effect our patients?
I do not believe that hand washing is the only answer to the problem- and I swear this topic could be it's own question, how to change hand-washing practices in hospitals. . .
Gerry O'Connor
with hand pumps there is the potential for "leftovers" at the end of the pump nozzle sitting and collecting bacteria which gets passed on to the next person .....simple hand washing with soap and water, and perhaps having YOUR OWN moisturiser, works well ......
keeping it simple, inexpensive and accessible should be a major focus IMO
Parthasarathy Ponguri
Sterility - Equipment used
Autumn Frisco 10+
yes mechanical hand-washing with soap and water is undervalued by many staff
sterility: many things play into this.
how long we use our disposable equipment for a patient
in the same respect is it more harmful to change the equipment? (lines and tubes being utilized on patients)
there is a lot of research for things like this and many protocols in place
I am pretty sure central lines are the HAI (hospital acquired infections) source that they have not found the best way to prevent yet actually. (the lines that go directly into an artery and therefore can cause the most trouble)
Autumn Frisco 10+
what practices in India are used to sterilize?