Infection Control Persuasive Essay
You cannot seem to stop vomiting, your head should be permanently embedded in the toilet because you have not moved in ours. You know for sure something is not right at this point because you have never felt this way. You pick yourself off of the bathroom floor and decide to head to the Emergency room. Upon your arrival you are escorted to the back to be seen because of the degree of your illness. The doctor comes in your room and asks you a variety of questions such as what you ate, when did the symptoms first begin.
You inform your doctor nothing out of the ordinary and proceed to tell the doctor what you have consumed. You proceed to tell the doctor you made a chicken dish 2 nights before. The doctor stops you in your traps, he/she notices that it has been about a day and half since you ate and prepared the chicken and your symptoms that you are currently experiencing. The doctor takes a look at you and says you have food poisoning. The doctor has informed you by either not cooking the chicken properly or the handling of the chicken you have been infected with Salmonella.
This situation could have been easily avoided simply by cooking the meat to temperature, handling the chicken with care such as washing your hands right after exposure to the chicken and or wiping down everything that came in contact with the chicken with a confection spray. Infection control is something that can be done and is quite simply at times, sometimes it is as easy as washing your hands. While many people do not practice infection control in their daily lives, using proper infection control can eliminate illness, sickness and even death. “Food Poisoning”, 2013) Once you have been exposed to an infection and you are experiencing the terrible side effects, you want to know how you could have been infected. First and foremost, infection is spread by tiny little microscopic organisms that we like to refer to as cetera and viruses. These little germs are found everywhere including our environment. Even us humans have germs, they are in our body secretions that include our stool and in tiny little droplets that are produced by breathing, coughing and sneezing. Infections are spread through many different ways.
The first way that was already stated was through stool. Stool contains germs that cause diarrhea and other infections that affect the intestinal tract that is found in feces. If for some reason a person doesn’t properly demonstrate personal hygiene is can spread wrought contaminated hands, food, water and even other surfaces that the individual encounters. Most importantly these germs spread because they can survive long periods of time. The key to not spreading germs from stool is to properly washing your hands each and every time one uses the laboratory.
Another way infection is spread is through droplets. The common cold, influenza, and strep throat to name a few are spread through germs that are found in ones saliva and secretions of the nose. Anytime someone sneezes, coughs or wipes that dreadful runny nose it is coming from the respiratory tract THAT contain germs. These little germs can easily be inhaled or accidental land in someone else nose, mouth or even eye and then they too have now been infected. Like stated before majority of germs can hang around because they can with stand our environment for a long period of time before dying off.
Another way is contact with blood. There are numerous types of infection that can be spread by direct contact with blood. It Just takes a break in the skin or even contact with the mucous membranes for instance the nose and eye. Only takes a very small amount of blood to spread infection. Therefore anytime blood or body laid are seen handle with care, such as always use gloves when handling such items and properly dispose of it and be sure to properly disinfect when the blood has been cleared up. Direct physical contact is another way infection is spread.
For example ringworm and impetigo is easily spread by physical contact. Contaminated objects such as toys, bottles, and pacifiers are easy conductors for germs because the sick child plays or uses the item. Then the well child comes along and uses it and now they have been exposed. With that said it is imperative for an adult to constantly confecting and assonating toys and other items used by children. (“How Infections Spread”, 2011) There is variety of ways to help prevent the spread of infection, it is just a matter of practicing the strategies.
The first and most important strategy to ensure that infection will not spread is to simply wash your hands. According to Elizabeth Gillespie (2009),” It is now recognized that hand hygiene is the primarily measure for infection prevention. ” She continues to add, ” When performed well, it reduces transmission of microbial pathogens both in community and in healthcare setting. Basically in a nutshell wash your hands to prevent whatever you have touched or were exposed to.
Another way to prevent infection is environmental hygiene, one of the key sources for infection to spread is through environmental surfaces. Some types of bacteria have been proven to survive for months on environmental surfaces. Therefore when a person touches these surfaces with their hands or even another type of skin contact the infection is then transmitted from the surface to the individual. With that said it is very important to keep surfaces clean and disinfected. The third way to prevent infection is to get vaccinated. According to “The Free Dictionary, 2013” vaccination is defined as “A preparation of a weakened or killed pathogen, such as a bacterium or virus, or of a portion of the pathogen’s structure that upon administration stimulates antibody production or cellular immunity against the pathogen but is incapable of causing severe infection. ” Getting vaccinated at a young age and continuing to keep up with vaccination throughout your life can help prevent the spread of virus’ and bacteria such as Smallpox, Rubella, and even influenza during flu season.
In order to ensure that infection does not make it to the individual to be able to infect their system, there are two ways to stop the germs in their track and that is by disinfecting and sterilizing. While the two both have the same Job and that is to decontaminate, they do two different things. For example disinfection is the action of eliminating and or reducing toxic germs that live on objects and surface. On the other hand sterilization is the process of actually killing the germs. Sterilizing even goes has far as to kill the spores of different types of germs that occupy in liquids, surfaces and surrounding areas.
Some types of disinfectants are air disinfectants, alcohols, alludes, oxidize agents and phenols. Some examples of sterilization are steam, heat, chemicals sterilization and sterile filtration. Disinfection is used more for air and surfaces, where as sterilization is used to kill germs on food, medicine and surgical instruments. (Ritual, Ph. D. , M. P. H. & Weber, Ph. D. , M. P. H. , 2008) It is quite easy to prevent the transmission of infection. The most important key to eliminating the spread of infection is using safety measures to ensure you do not become contaminated or how to avoid contamination all together.
Like stated previously infection is spread a number of ways however person to person contact is the most relative because people are simply not washing their hands. Hand washing can easily eliminate this problem , however there is more to it then simply Just running your hand through water. In order to ensure you are killing the germs you must apply soap and to rub your hands together for at least 15 seconds. Some people like to sing the “BBC” song or even “Happy Birthday’ song to ensure they are utilizing the 15 second rule. Be sure to wash all soap off and dry your hands . To secure the washing of your hands try to turn the faucet off and open the bathroom with your elbow. One can also use hand sanitized or rubbing alcohol when washing of the hands is not an option. Infection is also spread through the body naturally mechanism of coughing and sneezing. A cough and or sneeze can go as far as three feet or more once it has been produced and performed. However by covering you mouth and nose when sneezing and or cough it eliminates the germs from traveling and spreading to the air. The use of tissues when coughing or sneezing will allow the germs to be confined o the tissue and a little on your hands.
After you have disposed of the tissue make sure you wash your hands to protect the surfaces and others you may encounter. Also use common courtesy when you know you are sick. With that said try to remain at least three feet away from other people and use a mask if possible to avoid the spread when coughing or sneezing. Avoid shaking hands with other people and try to not touch others while you are sick. If these precautions are used on a daily basis it can ensure that germs are not spread saves you a trip to the doctor. (“Preventing The Spread Of Infection: Standard Precautions”, 2012) Infection control is important to utilize in today’s world. There are a variety of germs that can make one sick and enough can cause death. If more people in the world practiced infection control there would be less bacteria and virus, it can be Just as simple as washing your hands. There are signs and advertisements everywhere concerning the need for infection control. You walk into a public bathroom and it is telling you wash your hands. Some places have done away with manual towel dispenser and opt for dryer for hands to avoid touching the dispenser.
