NURS248 Communicable Diseases

infectious agent

any agent capable of causing infection. control or eliminate through handwashing, wearing gloevs, and disinfecting equipment

reservoir

a place where the pathogen can grow and reproduce such as the human body, an unchanged wound dressing, food, water, animals, stethoscopes

portal of exit

a way for the pathogen to exit the host such as mucous memrances, skin, respiratory tract, urinary and GI tracts, reproductive tracts. cover mouth and nose when couhging/sneezing, use PPE

mode of transmission

direct or indirect

portal of entry

way to enter the hist resp tract, GI, GU, reproductiev, skin, or mucus membraness

susceptible host

any person who cannot fight off the pathogen

number one way to prevent spread of infection

must follow infection control and preention practices and policies

airborn diseases

measles, varicella, TB

droplet precaution diseases

Flu, group A strep, mumps, rubella, perussis

contact precaution diseases

diptheria, pediculosis, scabies, multidrug resistant bacteria

reverse isolation precaution disease

neutropenia, cancer, immunocompromised

physicla symptoms of infection

runny nose, rash, ocuhg, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, fatigue, irritability, behavioral changes, poor feeding

general appearanc eof infection

leevl of alertness, rash, skin appearance blotchy or modeled

complete blood count

elevated WBCs detect inflammation and infection

erythrocyte sedimentation rate

indicator of chronic inflammation or infection

c-reactive protein

indicator of acute inflammation or infection, rises with bacterial infections

comprehensive metabolic panel

assess electrolytes, kidney, liver function

blood culture

use aseptic techniques to avoid contamination while drawing cultures

stool culture

should be absent of water or toilet paper

urine culture

clean catch mid-stream or via catheter, avoid contamination while obtaining culure, used to evaluate UTI

wound culture

dont take from exudate or eschar, culutre high vascular granulation tissue

throat cculutre

most reliable for group A strep, swab tonsillar area and posterior

nasal swabs

must swab nasopharynx, most reliable for pertussis, RSV, COVID, FLU, and viral panelslu

lumbar puncture

to collect cerebrospinal fluid to diagnose meningitis

supportive care

maintain oxygenation and circulation, monitoring vital signs

hydration

maintain proper fluid balance to replace insensible water loss from fever or loss of fluid

fever reduction

increase fluids, rest, dress lightly, spnge bath with tepid water, avoid cold water or alcohol baths

bacterial infection medications

Amoxicillin

Cefdinir

Cephalexin

Augmentin

Azithromycin

Mupriocin cream

Antivirlas

Tamiflu

Paxlovid

Acyclovir

Ribavirin

]Dexamethasone

Rabies

sign and symptoms are confusion, anxiety, and hypersalivation

Cat stratch fever

from cat bites, causes lymph nodes swelling, red bumps, feverLy

Lyme disease

bullseye rash at site of tick bite, appears 3-30 days after exposureW

West Nile

vector-borne from mosquito bites

Bacterial infections

ear infection

UTI

Skin infection

Pneumonia

Sinusitis

Gastroenteritis

Conjunctivits

Viral Infections

RSV

Broncholitis

Influenza A, B, C

common cold

Adenovirus

Strep throat tonsilitis

herpes

diptheria

symptoms is swelling lymph nodes of neck, infected tonsils, sore throat that makes it difficult to swallow

pertussis

symptom is paroxymal coughing, prolonged days, can be prevented vaccines

tetanus

acute muscle spasms and stiffness, that can be fatal bacterial infection from puncture injury. can be prevented with vaccine

botulism

toxin of clostridium, ingestion of spores from dust, improperly preserved home-canned foods, feeding raw honey to infant under 1 year old.sign

signs and symptoms of botulism

poor feeding, listless, weak cry, poor gag reflexes

osteomyelitis

bacterial infection of the boness

septic arthritis

bacterial infection in the joitn space

viral exanthems

skin rash that is caused by biral illnesses, typically presents with red, pink spots or patches, bumps, blisters, itching and usually has a fever associated with it

treatment of most viral exanthems

rest, fluids, fever relief, and itch relief

strep throat

produced by group A strep seen in kids 5-15 years old, spread by droplets from respiratory secretions.

parvovirus B19 fifth disease

begins with slapped cheek flushing

rubella

spotty red rash begins on face and spreads head-to-toe

rubeola (measles)

koplil spots, blotchy rash starts on face and moves to body, fever

variccella (chickenpox)

clear fluid-filled vesciles that scab and crust, incubation period of 10-21 days prevents by vaccine

mumps

swelling in the neck affects salivary glands, prevented by vaccine

head lice

parasite, most commons symptoms = extreme itching, use to treat head lice and scabies

scabies

skin disease from parasite mites, pediculide cream

pinworms

parasitic worms very itchy anus, most effective prevention is good hand hygiene