Hospital Acquired Infections (HAI) / NOSOCOMIAL INFECTION

Know About Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI)/NOSOCOMIAL INFECTION

What is Nosocomial/ Hospital Acquired Infection

NOSOCOMIAL Infection or Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) is the infection (either localized or systemic) caused by an infectious agent or its toxin that was not present or incubating at the time of admission to the hospital (National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance System). This includes infections acquired in the hospital generally after 48 hours of admission of a patient. In other words it is an infection condition caused by an infectious agent(s) usually acquired by the patient from the hospital.

Does the Infection (HAI) Already there in the Patient

The answer is no no. HAI is not present in the patient at the time of admission into the hospital. The patient is admitted for one disease condition but acquired other infection from the hospital. Generally the symptoms appeared for HAI is after 48 hours of admission of a patient.

Know More About HAI

These infections are opportunistic, and microorganisms of low virulence can also cause disease in hospital patients whose immune mechanisms are impaired. Hence, antimicrobial resistance increases in such cases making increase in morbidity and mortality. The source for nosocomial infections are generally external, being any part of the hospital ecosystem, including people, objects, food, water, and air in the hospital.

Hospital Acquired Infections involve yearly about 2 millions in US and accounts approximately for a cost of 4.5 billion dollars. The magnitude of this problem in a developing country like India is even more serious (Death rate is one in four) as per a statistics in International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium.

Causative Agents: Methicillin Resistance Staphylococcus aureus, Multidrug Resistant  Acinetobacter baumanii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Ventilator associated pneumoniae, Vancomycin resistant Enterococcus faecalis (VRE) etc.

How it Spreads: Contact (Equipment and surfaces, hands etc), Droplet, Airborne transmission, common vehicle (Food, water, devices and equipments) etc.

Types of Hospital Acquired Infections

1. Pneumonia
2. Surgical Site Infections
3. Gastroenteritis
4. Urinary Tract infections
5. Primary Bloodstream Infections

Conditions Vulnerable to Hospital Acquired Infections

Whether Hospital Acquired Infections Are Air-Borne

Study says at least one-third of HAIs are Air-Borne.

Examples of some Air-borne microbes responsible for Nosocomial Infections

Influenza A virus; Rubella Virus; Aspergillus species, Acinetobacter species; Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes; Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Serratia marcescens etc.

Preventing Hospital Acquired Infection

Expert suggests now a combination of surface and

air disinfection should produce optimum result.

Thus along with advanced technology

(e.g. Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation) there is an urgent need for air disinfection through fumigation surely gives a better result. But fumigation through chemical disinfectants demands removal of equipments and patients, beds etc. and also not possible in ICUs and operating rooms and expensive. A state of the art, 100% natural and organic disinfectant ZITRITIDE, an innovation from M/s. Gesco Natural Remedies Division provides solution to the limitations associated with chemical disinfection system.

Please log on to www.gesconaturals.com for more scientific information on ZITRITIDE.