Essays on Antimicrobial

Is Hand washing more effective in Infection Reduction versus Gel Hand Sanitizers?

Is Hand washing more effective in Infection Reduction versus Gel Hand Sanitizers?

Introduction

Today, the burden of health care-associated infections (HCAIs) are drawing attention not only from governments and health care regulatory bodies but also from patients and more so from health care practitioners (HCPs) themselves. This phenomenon is not merely because of the magnitude of the problem regarding the associated incidences of mortality, cost, and complexity of treatment, and morbidity, but also due to the growing recognition and understanding that, most of these complications are preventable. The medical fraternity is thus witnessing in tandem unprecedented improvements in the spread ...

Summary: APSIC Guide for prevention of Central Line Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLASBI)

The recommendations provided for insertion are optimal site selection, hand hygiene, alcohol based chlorhexidine skin preparation and maximum barrier precautions (Ling et al 2016). It is important to know the proper catheter infection site because it can affect the risk of infection and phlebitis. It is preferred to use subclavian site for adult patients. Hand hygiene is also important because it provides protection before the catheter insertion and maintenance. There should be proper aesthetic technique. Alcohol based chlorhexhidine in skin preparation is the standard procedure used in central and peripheral venous catheters. Lastly, maximum barrier precautions must be done ...

Abstract

Background: When animals get sick, their owners use a variety of means to treat them. One of the means is the use of antibiotics. However, antibiotics are used for several other reasons that are not therapeutic based. The result is the development of antimicrobial resistance, some of which is passed to humans during the period of treatment. Purpose: The aim of the study was to explore the transmission of the resistance to antimicrobials to human beings during the treatment of camels using Tylosin in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive method using the survey research design. Structured questionnaires were ...

Amoxicillin: A Review of Two Articles

The purpose of this paper is two examine two studies on the topic of the efficacy of amoxicillin or amoxicillin clavulanate as treatments for otitis media. The paper will describe the two studies, point out the major differences, and concludes with speculation as to why one study recommends the broad-spectrum penicillin antibiotic whereas the other recommends a wait and see approach.

Design of the Studies

Both the Dutch study, Damoiseaux et al. (2000), and the Finnish study, Tahtinen et al. (2011), used a randomized, double blind, placebo-controlled design to test the efficacy of amoxicillin or amoxicillin clavulanate. The inclusionary criteria in the Damoiseaux ...

Diagnosis

The diagnosis that can be made from the symptoms of the patient is community-acquired pneumonia (CAP). CAP is a severe disease of the lungs that occurs in people who do not have regular access to health care services. The risk factors of CAP include old age and medical comorbidities. CAP has been defined as comprising of chest pain, productive cough, fatigue, shortness of breath, fever, sweating and shaking chills (Musher, & Thorner, 2014). Bacteria such as Streptococcus pneumonia, atypical organisms such as Mycoplasma pneumonia, fungi, and viruses may cause pneumonia.

Gram Staining

The sputum taken from the lungs after a deep cough ...

Introduction:

Nanobiotechnology serves as an imperative technique in the development of clean, nontoxic, and eco-friendly procedures for the synthesis and congregation of metal NPs having the intrinsic ability to reduce metals by specific metabolic pathways. Silver nanoparticles are particularly interesting nanoscale systems due to the ease with which they can be synthesised and modified chemically. Synthesis of silver nanoparticles has been widely researched due to their interesting size and shape-dependent properties [26]. These novel properties can be tailored by controlling their size, shape, composition, structure and crystallinity. Due to their size features and advantages over available anti-microbial properties, chemical imaging ...

Overview

The significant outcome related to the over prescription of antibiotics by the physicians attributes to the pattern of antimicrobial resistance that develops inside the patients who consume extra doses or combination of antibiotics for treating their sore throat manifestation . The antibiotics resistance across the patient population is effectively determined by the measurement of their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) through laboratory analysis . The configuration of dilution solution of antibiotics stock and interpretation of the MIC findings through the analysis of bacterial growth over agar plates provides an insight regarding the MIC of antibiotics and the corresponding resistance of the developed ...

Smoking electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes), colloquially known as vaping, has become a rapid global trend. In fact, about a fifth of Americans aged 25 to 44 are using e-cigarettes (Hwang et al. 667). E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that use a solution of nicotine, flavorings, and humectants, to produce an aerosol, which will be inhaled by the user. The popularity of smoking e-cigarettes may be due to various motivations, but the most practical reasons are to help the user quit traditional cigarette smoking and to allow the user to use nicotine within non-smoking areas (Kalkhoran & Glantz 1). However, the popularity ...

Point 1

Article 1 The first article selected, Burden of Hospital Acquired Infections and Antimicrobial Use in Vietnamese Adult Intensive Care Units, highlights a situation where patients tend to experience economic burdens associated with hospital-acquired infections. Phu et al (2016) provide readers with a background analysis of the impacts associated with such types of infections especially on matters associated with health care costs. One key aspect that the authors note when undertaking their study is that Vietnam lacks a national surveillance system for hospital-acquired infections. Thus, the number of infections occurring on an annual basis, especially when dealing with public hospitals, ...

Introduction

Antibiotics are a class of drugs that are mostly used to treat infections caused by bacteria. Uncountable bacteria live in various parts the human body. These include the gut, skin, mouth and throats (Gelband et. al, 2015). Some of these bacteria are harmless. However, there are others that are pathogenic (disease causing) and can cause infections. These infections are known as bacterial infections and doctors prescribe antibiotics as mode of treatment. Antibiotics were introduced in 1940 and since then they have been significant to modern medicine. The core role of antibiotics was to treat infections caused by bacteria. However, ...

Background

Wound healing is one of the most important processes in maintaining the health of a person. Multiple factors affect wound healing in humans regardless of age. A partial list includes diabetes, hereditary healing disorders, obesity, drugs, alcoholism, smoking and compromised immune condition. Infection, stress, nutrition, and radiation therapy can also contribute to delayed or incomplete wound healing (Guo & DiPietro, 2010). In the start of a wound, an inflammatory response is initiated. Blood vessels expand, helping white blood cells and nutrients to reach the wound. Wound healing is achieved through the processes of hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. Proper sequence ...

Abstract

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, central line-associated bloodstream infections lead to the deaths of thousands of people every year in the United States. These infections actually represent about 10% of all hospital-acquired infections translating to about 71, 900 infections per year in US hospitals. Also, this condition adds billions of dollars to the total health care system costs. However, these infections are actually preventable. This paper analyzes literature related to this topic and tries to establish the best method for solving the problem of central line-associated bloodstream infections. The paper suggests the standardization of central ...

Lignin Chemistry

Lignin History Lignin is a plant-derived biopolymer with several applications. It is considered an effective alternative to chemically synthesized plastics that pose serious environmental problems during manufacture and disposal. Lignin is often obtained as a byproduct in paper and pulp manufacture. Lignin has to be dissolved to obtain cellulose from wood. In 1838, Anselme Payen discovered that wood contained cellulose, and oxidizable coatings (later called lignin) that bind the cellulose together (McCarthy and Islam, 2000). This coating material could be removed from wood after acid treatment and washing with an aqueous alkali solution (McCarthy and Islam, 2000). Later, several ...

Research summary

This research paper aims to determine the extent to which coffee grounds can be recycled for skin care purposes. Also it aims to create homemade skincare products such as facial masks and soaps using coffee grounds that are generated in massive quantities by coffee shops and instant coffee industries. The coffee industry has a large impact on the global economy. Environmentally speaking, the industry also has a significant impact. Every year, more than two billion tonnes of coffee wastes are produced. Coffee by-products are usually deemed virtually useless. The coffee grounds are directly thrown away during the processing and ...

Abstract

Handwashing is an important process in controlling microorganism transmission and infectious diseases. The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effectiveness of different antibacterial hand cleaners (soap, alcohol hand sanitizer and ethanol soaked wipes) on killing bacteria. Hands were sampled without cleaning with antibacterial hand cleaner (control), and after cleaning with antibacterial soap, alcohol sanitizer, and ethanol soaked wipes. Samples were taken with a sterile cotton swab and inoculated on agar plates. Each experiment was done three times. Colonies were counted, mean values and standard deviation were calculated, and data was reported. Alcohol and sanitizer and ethanol soaked ...

Assignment 2

PART A - (Total 15 marks)

Cephalexin and Gentamicin The mechanism of action of amoxicillin is focused on the prevention of the synthesis of the bacteria’s cell wall through the binding and inhibiting of the cell wall transpeptidases (Katzung, Masters, and Trevor, 2012). Specifically, it attaches to the penicillin-binding protein 1A found in the cell wall of bacteria. Then, the agent disintegrates the lactam ring to allow the acylation of the penicillin-sensitive transpeptidase C-terminal domain. The formation of the cross-link of the linear peptidoglycan strands is prevented by the inactivation of transpeptidases. Since the third and last stage ...

The study of infectious diseases has always been crucial to mankind because of the devastating effects it has had on the human race. The influenza epidemic, for example, occurred repeatedly in the 20 th and 21st century, spreading across large regions and multiple continents. Influenza in 1918 killed an estimated 50 million people world wide. This was higher than the amount of people that died in World War I. About 500,000 fatalities occurred in the US which was approximately 28% of the US population at that time. The number of deaths that took place in 1957 and 1968 ...

Initial Patient Assessment

Overview The patient is 67-year-old Mrs. Finch.

She lives with her husband in their marital home.

Recently, she suffered a CVA and had been in the hospital’s rehabilitation ward recovering from her latest episode. Before her CVA, Mrs. Finch had a healthy and active lifestyle.

However, her condition has brought with it numerous other complications including a chest infection.

She is also having difficulty staying mobile due to residual weakness on her left side. She has had a dark wound on her heel for about a week now. This wound keeps deteriorating into the present wound. A series of CVA specific issues such as limited mobility, the risk for infection and reduced nutrition hinders Mrs. Finch’s capacity to heal. Wound ...