Isolation precaution types, PPE order, and infection chain-of-transmission concepts.
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- What are the six links in the chain of infection?
- Infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, susceptible host
- In the chain of infection, what is the infectious agent?
- The organism capable of causing disease (virus, bacteria, fungus, parasite)
- In the chain of infection, what is the reservoir?
- The place where the infectious agent lives and multiplies (human, animal, environment, soil)
- In the chain of infection, what is the portal of exit?
- The route by which the agent leaves the reservoir (respiratory tract, GI tract, skin, blood, urine)
- In the chain of infection, what is the mode of transmission?
- The way the agent travels from one host to another (airborne, droplet, contact, vector, vehicle)
- In the chain of infection, what is the portal of entry?
- The route by which the agent enters a new host (respiratory tract, mucous membranes, GI tract, blood, skin breaks)
- In the chain of infection, what makes a host susceptible?
- Lack of immunity, malnutrition, immunosuppression, presence of chronic illness, breaks in skin integrity
- What are Standard Precautions based on?
- The assumption that all blood, body fluids, secretions, and non-intact skin may contain transmissible pathogens
- When are Standard Precautions used?
- With all patients, all the time, regardless of diagnosis or presumed infection status
- What is the most important component of Standard Precautions?
- Hand hygiene (performed before and after patient contact, after contact with body fluids, and before clean or sterile procedures)
- When should you use soap and water for hand hygiene instead of alcohol-based sanitizer?
- When hands are visibly soiled, after contact with Clostridioides difficile or norovirus, or after caring for a patient with infectious diarrhea
- What does Standard Precautions include?
- Hand hygiene, PPE, respiratory hygiene, sharps and needle safety, environmental cleaning, linen and laundry handling, waste disposal
- When are Transmission-Based Precautions used?
- In addition to Standard Precautions for patients with known or suspected infections that pose a higher transmission risk
- What are the three categories of Transmission-Based Precautions?
- Airborne, Droplet, and Contact Precautions
- What transmission route requires airborne precautions?
- Infections spread through airborne nuclei (particles less than 5 microns) that can remain suspended for hours