Spreading Conjunctivitis

[Mary3010]

1) If a patient who has conjunctivitis spread their symptoms to a patient in another room, how could this be prevented in the future? Is there something in the chain of infection that needs to be done?

2) How could it have been transmitted to the patient next door?

[Wuzzie]

Are you asking us for your own personal information? Quizzing us? Homework?

What are your resources for figuring this out?

[Mary3010]

I'm just trying to understand because I am confused. Would it spread through contact transmission and patient placement?

Would cleanliness and sterilisation break the chain of infection?

[Wuzzie]

Are you a student?

[Sydney2011]

Of course they are a student. No nurse would be asking these questions.

[Wuzzie]

58 minutes ago, Sydney2011 said:

Of course they are a student. No nurse would be asking these questions.

Don’t be so sure of that. And we handle students differently than nurses or the random lay-person who posts here.

[Mary3010]

I was just really confused and it might be really simple if someone who knows explained it to me. I've been doing heaps of research and it's stressing me out because I need to understand this and I think I am confusing myself.

Just to clarify, are these correct (all relating to conjunctivitis):

1) Geriatric Infection Control issues: Things to look out for in preventing an infectious outbreak e.g

* Fomites from the pathogen on any object is an issue (causes weaker immune system).

* Patient placement (isolating patients - if they are contagious they can pass on the pathogen through contact transmission).

2) Transmission of the Infection: Direct contact transmission (touching eye and then touching your own eye). The chain of infection would include: Reservoir (pathogen), mode (direct contact), portal of entry (eyes), susceptible host (nurses or pts), exit (gentamicin), transfer to new host (rinse and repeat).

3) Breaking the Chain of Infection:

*Use Disinfectants to kill fomites.

*Use of personal protective outfit e.g gloves, gown, washing hands etc.

Thank you!!

[Wuzzie]

1 hour ago, Mary3010 said:

* Fomites from the pathogen on any object is an issue (causes weaker immune system). 

Okay, so far you seem to have a good handle on it with the exception of the above. A fomite doesn’t come from a pathogen it is simply an object that can carry a pathogen. In this case a used Kleenex or washcloth would be an example of a fomite. Even you can be a fomite. So as you can see a fomite cannot cause a weaker immune system but someone who has one is more vulnerable to exposure from a fomite.

Also, the “exit” wouldn’t be gentamicin. We’re talking about transmission here. The exit would be the now infected nurse touching her infected eye thereby transmitting the bacteria to, say for example, the thermometer she just touched which then becomes a fomite.

[Mary3010]

I think I understand it. So would gentamicin just be something that can break the chain of infection then?

Also the only other part that I was confused about was the mechanism of action of gentamicin. Would that just involve drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion and in this circumstance it would involve protein synthesis?

Thank you so much!!

[Wuzzie]

44 minutes ago, Mary3010 said:

I think I understand it. So would gentamicin just be something that can break the chain of infection then?

Well, yes and no. It would cure the infection in that particular host and prevent them from infecting more people but it would have no impact on the people they have already infected who can go on to infect even more people.

45 minutes ago, Mary3010 said:

Also the only other part that I was confused about was the mechanism of action of gentamicin. Would that just involve drug absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion and in this circumstance it would involve protein synthesis? 

No, that is pharmacokinetics. Mechanism of action is what the drug does directly to the bacteria. That should be easy to look up.

[Mary3010]

Thank you so much for your help! I understand it all now!

[Wuzzie]

So to make sure you are totally getting it what nursing action would you do to break the chain of infection? This could include things you'd do and things you'd educate your patient to do. Hint: think about how conjunctivitis is spread.