Infection control

Answer

Diagnosis of Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Introduction

Community-Acquired Pneumonia is an illness that many scholars and physicians have considered dangerous owing to the impact it has on those who are affected. In most cases, especially if it is not treated at an early age, the ailment could be fatal. However, studies have revealed that it mostly affects individuals who are of advanced ages or medical complications. Also, infants are likely to suffer the same fate if they acquire the disease. The common symptom of the disease is that it causes breathing problems and other respiratory problems (Kaysin & Viera, 2016). It has been established that the disease is normally acquired in a community setting, where there are a large number of people staying together (Kaysin & Viera, 2016). By virtue that it is airborne, the closeness of people in a community aggravates the spread of Community-Acquired Pneumonia disease. 

Standard Precautions for Infection Control

Some of the standard precautions for infection control include the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) appropriate for handling Community-Acquired Pneumonia and applying respiratory hygiene or cough etiquette. Other standard precautions for infection control of Community-Acquired Pneumonia include safe decontamination and sterilization of medical equipment, proper environmental decontamination, and healthcare waste management. Personal Protective Equipment plays a significant role in protecting medical practitioners from contracting Community-Acquired Pneumonia. Before undertaking any procedure, healthcare personnel is advised to take precautionary measures by wearing personal protective equipment and this applies mostly to the doctors and nurses in the intensive Care (Moyer & Marcin,2018). The personal protective equipment should be accessible, stored in a clean environment, used only once, and sufficient in terms of supply. The PPE comprises gloves, gowns, aprons, surgical facemasks, respirators, and face shields.

In the same breathe, the application of appropriate respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette is another significant standard precautions for infection control of Community-Acquired Pneumonia. For instance, patients who are experiencing repeated cough episodes are advised to use disposable tissue, and to cover their mouth and nose whenever they cough. In a situation where the disposable tissues are not available, the patients should sneeze on their bent elbows. Also, they should face away from other people while coughing or sneezing and wash hands with sanitizers after coughing or sneezing.

Safe decontamination and sterilization of medical equipment is also another essential standard precaution for infection control of Community-Acquired Pneumonia. Contaminated medical devices and equipment have the potential to affect other patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit after contact. The staff handling the medical equipment and devices are also at great risk of being infected. To reduce infection rates from Community-Acquired Pneumonia in the Intensive care Unit, there should be the implementation of safe and effective decontamination procedures of all-reusable equipment and devices (Moyer & Marcin,2018). These procedures provide the standards and guidelines to be followed when using medical equipment and devices. By following the stipulated decontamination guidelines, patients, visitors, and staff will be protected from the dangers of using unsafe medical equipment. The essence of this exercise is that it eliminates the number of pathogens and microorganisms in medical equipment and devices. Ostensibly, the standards and code of practice during decontamination should adhere to the government health policies. Also, proper environmental decontamination plays a key role as a standard precaution to control the spread of Community-Acquired Pneumonia (Moyer & Marcin,2018). Also, appropriate healthcare waste management is essential in the control of the spread of Community-Acquired Pneumonia. This could be implemented through recycling waste, generation, reduction, avoidance, separation, assembly, transport, storing, and treatment.

Methods of Infection Control

Controlling the spread of Community-Acquired Pneumonia can be achieved through the use of Polyvalent vaccines of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides, the use of a beta-lactam antibiotic, and administering oral antibiotics for improved patients. Polyvalent vaccines of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides have been proven to be a very effective vaccine in the control of Community-Acquired Pneumonia (Bartlett et al., 2000). Individuals who had not received the vaccination previously can be vaccinated immediately after they are hospitalized. The advantage of using the vaccine is that it is affordable and can be administered with other medications at the same time (Bartlett et al., 2000). Similar to the vaccination, the use of a beta-lactam antibiotic could suffice in the control of Community-Acquired Pneumonia. Beta-lactam antibiotic is mostly administered on patients admitted in the Intensive Care Unit or those who are in a critical stage. It is recommended that Beta-lactam should be administered with macrolide antibiotics (Kaysin & Viera,2016). Further, it is advisable to administer oral antibiotics to patients that have improved or shown signs of recovering from Community-Acquired Pneumonia. Through the application of the three methods of infection control, the recovery period of patients can be reduced and the success rate is assured.

Cycles of Infection of Community-Acquired Pneumonia

Community-Acquired Pneumonia patients undergo several cycles of infection comprising of consolidation, red hepatization, grey hepatization, and resolution. The consolidation stage is the cycle where the lungs of a patient infected with Community-Acquired Pneumonia are filled with water, pus, or blood. To ascertain this, a patient admitted to the Intensive Care Unit should undergo a series of tests. At this stage, several pathogens and neutrophils could be detected in the patient’s blood and saliva (Moyer & Marcin, 2018). The red hepatization follows the consolidation cycle. This stage is dominant on the second to third day after congestion, where the lungs turn red and tend to look like the liver (Moyer & Marcin,2018). At this stage, the lungs are filled with erythrocytes, neutrophils, fibrin, and desquamated epithelial cells. The red hepatization is succeded by the gray hepatization stage. At this point, the color of the lungs turns to yellow or gray-yellow (Moyer & Marcin,2018). The lungs are filled with fibrinopurulent exudate, hemosiderin, and broken red blood (Moyer & Marcin,2018). The resolution stage, which is the last phase, is where the architecture of the lungs is restored. Consequently, this may lead to fibrinous inflammation and cause pleural adhesions.

Most Contagious stage of Community-Acquired Pneumonia

The most contagious stage of infection of Community-Acquired Pneumonia is the congestion stage where other people can contract the disease if the patient sneezes or coughs (Moyer & Marcin, 2018). This is because the bacteria at this stage are still very active and infectious.

Controlling the Infection in the Hospital in the Community

Since Community-Acquired Pneumonia is very infectious, I would recommend the adherence to the recommended control procedures following the code of medical practice. Initially, I would advise that chest radiography be administered to patients suspected to have Community-Acquired Pneumonia. This procedure allows medics to confirm the presence of any infection. Also, I would evaluate specific pathogens in the case where the tests are positive (Moyer & Marcin, 2018). Moreover, I would propose the application of mortality and severity scores to study the inpatient casualties, especially in the Intensive Care Unit. What's more, I would also advocate that all patients admitted to Intensive Care should undergo dual therapy. Moreover, I would center prevention treatment universal influenza vaccination and pneumococcal vaccination majorly on patients at great danger of contracting the pneumococcal disease.

Proper Personal Protective Equipment for Nurses

Nurses play a significant role in a hospital in terms of providing holistic care to a patient. Since they come into contact with many patients, they need to wear appropriate personal protective gear to prevent the risks of getting an infection or infecting other medical staff. For instance, nurses are required to always wear hand gloves to protect them from touching fluids from patients that they are handling. Moreover, nurses need facemasks to protect them from getting infected by Community-Acquired Pneumonia (Moyer & Marcin, 2018). When removing the gloves and masks, care must be taken so that nurses do not come in contact with fluids accidentally. Subsequently, the gloves should be disposed off safely (Moyer & Marcin,2018). After the removal of the gloves and face masks, a nurse should perform thorough hand hygiene, such as washing hands with soap or sanitizers.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Community-Acquired Pneumonia is a highly infectious disease that can be controlled by taking precautionary measures as well as administering the recommended medications to the patient. Some standard precautions for infection control include the use of personal protective equipment, applying the use of respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette, safe decontamination and sterilization of medical equipment, proper environmental decontamination, and appropriate healthcare waste management. As for the control of the infection, practitioners could use polyvalent vaccines of pneumococcal capsular polysaccharides, beta-lactam antibiotics, and administer oral antibiotics to patients who are improving. The common cycles associated with the infection of Community-acquired Pneumonia include consolidation, red hepatization, grey hepatization, and resolution.