Need help on homework question

[nurse_elyse]

Ok, I have a question on my home work that asks if the following are Community Acquired infections or Hospital Acquired infections:

Food-borne illness

Nosocomial infection

Syphilis

Gonorrhea

Iatrogenic Infection

VRE

Aids

Anthrax

Hepatitis A

Tuberculosis

Superinfection

I thought most of these could be community acquired except for Nosocomial infections and Iatrogenic Infection but you could also get most of these infections while in a hospital. I guess I'm just a little confused. Can anyone help me?

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

The answer is nosocomial infection. The definition of nosocomial is "pertaining to occurring in a hospital". An iatrogenic infection is one brought about because of medical treatment, so it could possibly qualify as as hospital acquired. A superinfection is an infecting organism that is resistant to the antibiotic being given for another existing infection, so it could also kind of qualify as hospital acquired. Iatrogenic and superinfections occur in the hospital all the time. An iatrogenic infection can occur when contaminated instruments or treatment materials are used on a patient. I've mostly seen superinfections in people receiving large amounts of an IV antibiotic over a period of time. Strictly speaking, however, and based on the definitions of the words the best answer is the nosocomial infection.

[nurse_elyse]

The answer is nosocomial infection. The definition of nosocomial is "pertaining to occurring in a hospital". An iatrogenic infection is one brought about because of medical treatment, so it could possibly qualify as as hospital acquired. A superinfection is an infecting organism that is resistant to the antibiotic being given for another existing infection, so it could also kind of qualify as hospital acquired. Iatrogenic and superinfections occur in the hospital all the time. An iatrogenic infection can occur when contaminated instruments or treatment materials are used on a patient. I've mostly seen superinfections in people receiving large amounts of an IV antibiotic over a period of time. Strictly speaking, however, and based on the definitions of the words the best answer is the nosocomial infection.

Thanks for the reply. I thought alot like you said about some of it being hospital acquired with the antibiotics given. Hopefully my instructor will be more helpful than she was today on this question when we go over it tomorrow.