Infection Types, Spread, and Prevention Steps Case Study

Understand own role in the prevention and control of the spread of infection

1.1 Describe the different types of infection

There are mainly four types of infections in the world and they are bacterial, viral, fungal, or parasitic.

• Bacterial infection: Bacterial diseases can spread in a huge range and include urinary tract infections, strep throat, and many more (Medicinenet.com, 2023). The bacteria can find its way to the body through any wound or surgical incisions. Some of the bacteria have the power to kill the cells in the human body.
• Viral infection: Viruses also can cause huge problems in the body, such as interfering with cell function, and can also kill cells, which can cause illness. After a cell dies, the viruses get a new place to spread and harm another cell (Guillin et al., 2019). As a result of a virus attack, one can suffer from different diseases such as fever, secreting a hormone, and fever. Vaccination is one of the ways to get rid of it.
• Parasitic Infection: Protozoa is one kind of protozoa that grows in moisture and mainly in water. There are some diseases that can grow in someone’s body due to parasitic infections (Arsenopoulos et al., 2021). In the body of a person who has strong immunity, the virus will not be able to affect too much, but a person who has a weak immune system will get serious problems.
• Fungal Infection: Fungal infection can cause some serious problems, but most of the time it does not cause serious problems. The problem is that fungal infections bother someone the most. (Janbon et al., 2019). The power of the fungal infection is that it can invade other cells and can disrupt the healthy cells and their functions.

1.2 Describe how the chain of infection can lead to the spread of infection

The germs that are contagious can spread the infection from one body to another (Vulpe et al., 2020). There are some infections that can spread through somebody's serum, such as blood, fluid, urine, semen, and many more. The virus can also spread through direct skin-to-skin contact. Moreover, if an uninfected person comes into contact with an infected person, the individual may get infected.

There are some infections that directly affect the skin, and this type of disease spreads through skin contact. Examples of these types of germs are head lice, ringworm, conjunctivitis, and a lot more.

STI or sexually transmitted infections are one of the most common processes in the way infections can be transmitted from one body to another (Wolf et al., 2021). Examples of such kinds of diseases are syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea, and many more.

It can be said that some diseases come from water and food and can affect a huge number of people at the same time. The water that is used by a number of people, and there are germs in the water, then all the people will be affected by diseases such as typhoid, listeria, and a lot more.

1.3 Explain how to identify individuals who have, or are at risk of, developing an infection

There are so many steps that should be taken to prevent the risks of infection to a particular individual from others, and the points are discussed below.

• Washing hands: Everyone should wash their hands in a proper way, and some steps should be followed, such as they need to wash their hands with tepid running water to avoid germs (Nicolaides et al., 2020). Applying liquid soap can reduce the risk of getting infected, and every individual has to make sure that they rub their hand properly for at least 20 seconds. After washing their hands, they need to dry their hands with dry towels.
• Cough hygiene and respiratory: Everyone can take precautions while sneezing and coughing, such as they can cover their noses with a clean tissue so that the germs cannot affect others. After sneezing and coughing, the person should dispose of the used tissues properly, otherwise it can still affect someone (UK, 2022). Cleaning hands after sneezing is also an important step that should be followed to make sure that their infections cannot harm anyone else. Besides all of these, what a human needs the most is support, and that should be given to everyone as it will help to maintain hygiene also.

1.4 Identify actions that should be taken to reduce the risks of infection to individuals and others

1.5 Describe own role and responsibilities

• identifying an outbreak or spread of infection
• actions to take once an infection outbreak or spread has been identified

Identifying an outbreak or spread of infection: Spread of an infection or outbreak of an infection refers to the two or more cases which are linked, such as a lot of persons are suffering from the disease and the number of affected persons exceeds the expectations. It is very important to identify the problems and then only one can find the solution to it. Every individual should get to know whether the person with whom they are getting connected is vaccinated and has a strong immune system.

Actions to take once an infection outbreak or spread has been identified: The first step that should be taken after identifying the outbreak or spread of infection is that the organization or institutions should stop the visitors from coming there (Health.govt.nz, 2023). Another step that should be followed by us is that we try to immune ourselves from the virus by taking the vaccination. The hands should be washed in the gap of time, and cover the nose while sneezing and coughing. Besides all of these, we need to stay at home if we fall sick and should not come in touch with anyone. Cleaning is another point that everyone should clean their house and floors very well so that it can prevent infections.

1.6 Describe own responsibilities for ensuring that cleaning and decontamination of environments and equipment is carried out according to the level of risk

As a responsible human being, I have to follow some steps so that I can reduce the chance of getting infected. First of all, I have to wear a mask all the time as I need to cover my mouth and nose. Wearing a mask can help to reduce the germs and also fight against them (Rossettie et al., 2023). For being safer, a head mask can be worn. We have to make sure that all the cleaning equipment is stored in a dry area, and the place has to be far away from the patient's area. The institution should ensure that access to the cleaning staff is only available to the staff members that are authorized. The employees have to make sure that all the cleaning staff are kept separately.

1.7 Describe own role in supporting others to follow practices that reduce the spread of infection

Supporting others to follow the rule is also a part of my responsibility, and that can be followed by some steps, such as first I have to make sure that the staff who are on duty are trained properly and know well how to do their work. The seniors of the organizations should always give advice and attention to their work so that they may not do anything wrong. Being unsafe or doing anything wrong can be a high challenge in such a situation. Besides all of these, I have to make them understand their duty on a daily basis by myself. Nothing can replace the practices in the real field, all the staff have to be more attentive towards their work to be quick learners.

Learner Authentication

Reference

Journals Articles:

Arsenopoulos, K.V., Fthenakis, G.C., Katsarou, E.I. and Papadopoulos, E., 2021. Haemonchosis: A challenging parasitic infection of sheep and goats. Animals, 11(2), p.363.

Guillin, O.M., Vindry, C., Ohlmann, T. and Chavatte, L., 2019. Selenium, selenoproteins and viral infection. Nutrients, 11(9), p.2101.

Janbon, G., Quintin, J., Lanternier, F. and d’Enfert, C., 2019. Studying fungal pathogens of humans and fungal infections: Fungal diversity and diversity of approaches. Microbes and Infection, 21(5-6), pp.237-245.

Nicolaides, C., Avraam, D., Cueto‐Felgueroso, L., González, M.C. and Juanes, R., 2020. Hand‐hygiene mitigation strategies against global disease spreading through the air transportation network. Risk Analysis, 40(4), pp.723-740.

Rossettie, S., Perry, C., Pourghaed, M. and Zumwalt, M., 2020. Effectiveness of manufactured surgical masks, respirators, and home-made masks in prevention of respiratory infection due to airborne microorganisms. The Southwest Respiratory and Critical Care Chronicles, 8(34), pp.11-26.

Stadnytskyi, V., Anfinrud, P. and Bax, A., 2021. Breathing, speaking, coughing or sneezing: What drives transmission of SARS‐CoV‐2?. Journal of Internal Medicine, 290(5), pp.1010-1027.

Vulpe, A., Lupu, C. and Mihai, C., 2020, June. Research on infrared body temperature measurement–virus spreading prevention. In 2020 12th International Conference on Electronics, Computers and Artificial Intelligence (ECAI) (pp. 1-4). IEEE.

Wolf, E.A., Rettig, H.C., Lupatsii, M., Schlüter, B., Schäfer, K., Friedrich, D., Graspeuntner, S. and Rupp, J., 2021. Culturomics Approaches Expand the Diagnostic Accuracy for Sexually Transmitted Infections. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(19), p.10815.

Websites

Gov.uk, 2022. Standard infection control precautions. Available at. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infection-prevention-and-control-in-adult-social-care-settings/infection-prevention-and-control-resource-for-adult-social-care [Accessed on 23rd May,2023]

Health. govt.nz, 2023. Prevent the spread of infectious disease. Available at https://www.health.govt.nz/your-health/healthy-living/environmental-health/infectious-disease-prevention-and-control/prevent-spread-infectious-disease [Accessed on 20th May, 2023]

Medicinenet.com, 2023. What Are the 4 Types of Infections?. Available at https://www.medicinenet.com/what_are_the_4_types_of_infections/article.htm [Accessed on 22nd May,2023]