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Barrier Nursing
Barrier nursing is a set of stringent infection control techniques used in nursing. The aim of barrier nursing is to protect medical staff against infection by patients and also protect patients with highly infectious diseases from spreading their pathogens to other non-infected people. Barrier nursing was created as a means to maximize isolation care. Since it is impossible to isolate a patient from society and medical staff while still providing care, there are often compromises made when it comes to treating infectious patients. Barrier nursing is a method to regulate and minimize the number and severity of compromises being made in isolation care, while also preventing the disease from spreading. History and usage The term "barrier nursing" was first used by the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) to describe early infection control methods in the late 1800s. From the mid-1900s to early 2000s, 15 new terms had emerged and were also being used to describe infection control. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Infection Control
Infection prevention and control (IPC) is the discipline concerned with preventing healthcare-associated infections; a practical rather than academic sub-discipline of epidemiology. In Northern Europe, infection prevention and control is expanded from healthcare into a component in public health, known as "infection protection" (''smittevern, smittskydd, Infektionsschutz'' in the local languages). It is an essential part of the infrastructure of health care. Infection control and hospital epidemiology are akin to public health practice, practiced within the confines of a particular health-care delivery system rather than directed at society as a whole. Infection control addresses factors related to the spread of infections within the healthcare setting, whether among patients, from patients to staff, from staff to patients, or among staff. This includes preventive measures such as hand washing, cleaning, disinfecting, sterilizing, and vaccinating. Other aspects include survei ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Nursing
Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alleviation of suffering through compassionate presence". Nurses practice in many specialties with varying levels of certification and responsibility. Nurses comprise the largest component of most healthcare environments. There are shortages of qualified nurses in many countries. Nurses develop a plan of care, working collaboratively with physicians, therapists, patients, patients' families, and other team members that focuses on treating illness to improve quality of life. In the United Kingdom and the United States, clinical nurse specialists and nurse practitioners diagnose health problems and prescribe medications and other therapies, depending on regulations that vary by state. Nurses may help coordinate care performed by other provide ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Infectious Disease
An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an Disease#Terminology, illness resulting from an infection. Infections can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, most prominently pathogenic bacteria, bacteria and viruses. Hosts can fight infections using their immune systems. Mammalian hosts react to infections with an Innate immune system, innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an Adaptive immune system, adaptive response. Treatment for infections depends on the type of pathogen involved. Common medications include: * Antibiotics for bacterial infections. * Antivirals for viral infections. * Antifungals for fungal infections. * Antiprotozoals for protozoan infections. * Antihelminthics for infections caused by parasi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Isolation (health Care)
In health care facilities, isolation represents one of several measures that can be taken to implement in infection control: the prevention of communicable diseases from being transmitted from a patient to other patients, health care workers, and visitors, or from outsiders to a particular patient (reverse isolation). Various forms of isolation exist, in some of which contact procedures are modified, and others in which the patient is kept away from all other people. In a system devised, and periodically revised, by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), various levels of patient isolation comprise application of one or more formally described "precaution". Isolation is most commonly used when a patient is known to have a contagious (Transmission (medicine), transmissible from person-to-person) viral illness, viral or Bacteria, bacterial illness. Special equipment is used in the management of patients in the various forms of isolation. These most commonly in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Universal Precautions
Universal precautions refers to the practice, in medicine, of avoiding contact with patients' bodily fluids, by means of the wearing of nonporous articles such as medical gloves, goggles, and face shields. The infection control techniques were essentially good hygiene habits, such as hand washing and the use of gloves and other barriers, the correct handling of hypodermic needles, scalpels, and aseptic techniques. Following the AIDS outbreak in the 1980s, the US CDC formally introduced them in 1985–88. Every patient was treated as if infected, and therefore precautions were taken to minimize risk. In 1987, the practice of universal precautions was adjusted by a set of rules known as body substance isolation. In 1996, both practices were replaced by the latest approach known as Transmission-based precautions#Standard precautions, standard precautions. Use of personal protective equipment is now recommended in all health care settings. Historical significance Universal precaut ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Personal Protective Equipment
Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, electrical, heat, chemical, biohazards, and airborne particulate matter. Protective equipment may be worn for job-related occupational safety and health purposes, as well as for sports and other recreational activities. ''Protective clothing'' is applied to traditional categories of clothing, and ''protective gear'' applies to items such as pads, guards, shields, or masks, and others. PPE suits can be similar in appearance to a cleanroom suit. The purpose of personal protective equipment is to reduce employee exposure to hazards when engineering controls and administrative controls are not feasible or effective to reduce these risks to acceptable levels. PPE is needed when there are hazards present. PPE has the serious limitation that it d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Lassa Virus
Lassa virus (LASV) is an Arenaviridae, arenavirus that causes Lassa hemorrhagic fever, a type of viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF), in humans and other primates. Lassa virus is an Emerging infectious disease, emerging virus and a select agent, requiring Biosafety level#Biosafety level 4, Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment. It is endemic in West African countries, especially Sierra Leone, the Republic of Guinea, Nigeria, and Liberia, where the annual incidence of infection is between 300,000 and 500,000 cases, resulting in 5,000 deaths per year. As of 2012 discoveries within the Mano River region of west Africa have expanded the endemic zone between the two known Lassa endemic regions, indicating that LASV is more widely distributed throughout the tropical wooded savannah ecozone in west Africa. There are no approved vaccines against Lassa fever for use in humans. Discovery In 1969, missionary nurse Laura Wine fell ill with a mysterious disease she contracted from an obstetri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever
Viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHFs) are a diverse group of diseases. "Viral" means a health problem caused by infection from a virus, " hemorrhagic" means to bleed, and "fever" means an unusually high body temperature. Bleeding and fever are common signs of VHFs, which is how the group of infections got its common name. There are five known families of RNA viruses which cause VHFs: '' Arenaviridae'', '' Filoviridae'', '' Flaviviridae'', '' Hantaviridae'', and ''Rhabdoviridae''. Some VHFs are usually mild, such as nephropathia epidemica (within the family ''Hantaviridae''). But some are usually severe and have a high death rate, such as Ebola virus (within the family ''Filoviridae''). All VHFs can potentially cause severe blood loss, high fever, and death. Both humans and non human animals can be infected. Signs and symptoms The following are signs and symptoms of most or all VHFs. * Circulatory shock *Diarrhea (feces which resemble more liquid than solid) *Headache *Hypotens ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Virulence
Virulence is a pathogen's or microorganism's ability to cause damage to a host. In most cases, especially in animal systems, virulence refers to the degree of damage caused by a microbe to its host. The pathogenicity of an organism—its ability to cause disease—is determined by its virulence factors. In the specific context of gene for gene systems, often in plants, virulence refers to a pathogen's ability to infect a resistant host. Virulence can also be transferred using a plasmid. The noun ''virulence'' (Latin noun ) derives from the adjective ''virulent'', meaning disease severity. The word ''virulent'' derives from the Latin word ''virulentus'', meaning "a poisoned wound" or "full of poison". The term ''virulence'' does not only apply to viruses. From an ecological standpoint, virulence is the loss of fitness induced by a parasite upon its host. Virulence can be understood in terms of proximate causes—those specific traits of the pathogen that help make the host ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ebola Virus Disease
Ebola, also known as Ebola virus disease (EVD) and Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), is a viral hemorrhagic fever in humans and other primates, caused by ebolaviruses. Symptoms typically start anywhere between two days and three weeks after infection. The first symptoms are usually fever, sore throat, Myalgia, muscle pain, and headaches. These are usually followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash and decreased liver and kidney function, at which point some people begin to bleeding, bleed both internal bleeding, internally and externally. It kills between 25% and 90% of those infected – about 50% on average. Death is often due to hypovolemic shock, shock from fluid loss, and typically occurs between 6 and 16 days after the first symptoms appear. Early treatment of symptoms increases the survival rate considerably compared to late start.Ebola in Uganda: An Ebola vaccine was approved by the US FDA in December 2019. The virus spreads through direct contact with body fluids, such as bl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Rabies
Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abnormal sensations at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, fear of water, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and loss of consciousness. Once symptoms appear, the result is virtually always death. The time period between contracting the disease and the start of symptoms is usually one to three months but can vary from less than one week to more than one year. The time depends on the distance the virus must travel along Peripheral nervous system, peripheral nerves to reach the central nervous system. Rabies is caused by lyssaviruses, including the rabies virus and Australian bat lyssavirus. It is spread when an i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Airlock
An airlock is a room or compartment which permits passage between environments of differing atmospheric pressure or composition, while minimizing the changing of pressure or composition between the differing environments. An airlock consists of a chamber with two Hermetic seal, airtight doors or openings, usually arranged in series, which do not open simultaneously. Airlocks can be small-scale mechanisms, such as Fermentation lock, those used in fermenting, or larger mechanisms, which often take the form of an antechamber. An airlock may also be used underwater to allow passage between the air environment in a pressure vessel, such as a submarine, and the water environment outside. In such cases the airlock can contain either Atmosphere of Earth, air or water. This is called a floodable airlock or underwater airlock, and is used to prevent water from entering a submersible vessel or underwater habitat. Operation The procedure of entering an airlock from the external or am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
