Understanding how the infection is spread is essential to our efforts to prevent and contain its spread, especially when there is no definitive treatment available. Show There are three modes of transmission: contact, droplet, airborne.
Contact Transmissionoccurs when there is physical contact between an infected person/contaminated object and another person.
When an infected person coughs, droplets can land on objects and surfaces around them. When another person touches these surfaces, their hands can get contaminated with the virus. If they touch their nose or mouth with contaminated hands, they can get infected. It is therefore essential to make hand hygiene a priority and wash your hands regularly.
Droplet Transmissionhappens when an infected person coughs, sneezes, or talks, and tiny drops from the infected person enter another person’s eyes, nose and mouth.
Airborne Transmissionoccurs when small particles in the air (<5um in size) containing the virus are inhaled into a person’s respiratory system (Pan et al., 2019). Although one study has reported that the virus can remain viable in the air for up to 3 hours (van Doremalen et al., 2020), more research is needed to confirm if airborne transmission occurs with COVID-19. Chain of Infection Certain conditions must be met in order for a microbe or infectious disease to be spread from person to person. This process is known as the chain of infection (CDC, 2016) which is shown in Fig 1. There are six steps in the chain of infection and transmission will only take place if all six links are intact.
If any of the links are broken then the infection will not occur. Infection Control principles are aimed at breaking one or more links in this chain. Prevention Strategies To prevent and of viruses, WHO recommends employing basic hygiene principles through standard and transmission-based precaution. Standard precautions include:
precautions include: use of appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), including gloves, aprons or gowns, eyewear, face shields and face masks. Hand Hygiene – 5 Moments of Hand Hygiene1. BEFORE TOUCHING A PATIENTWhen: Clean hands before touching a patient when approaching him/herWhy: To protect the patient against harmful germs carried on your hands.2. AFTER TOUCHING A PATIENTWhen: Clean your hands immediately before performing a clean/aseptic procedure.Why: To protect the patient agaisnt harmful germs, including the patient's own, from entering his/her body.3. AFTER BODY EXPOSURE RISKWhen: Clean your hands immediately after an exposure risk to body fluids (and after glove removal).Why: To protect yourself and the health-care environment from harmful patient germs.4. AFTER TOUCHING A PATIENTWhen: Clean your hands after touching a patient and her/his immediate surroundings, when leaving the patient's side.Why: To protect yourself and the health-care environment from harmful patient germs.5. AFTER TOUCHING PATIENT SURROUNDINGSWhen: Clean your hands after touching any object or furniture in the patient's immediate surroundings, when leaving - even if the patient has not been touched.Why: To protect yourself and the health-care environment from harmful patient germs.Washing Hands with Soap and Water RegularlyHand washing thoroughly with soap and water is one of the best ways to prevent you or someone you know from getting infected. Washing your hands frequently helps to remove potentially harmful microorganisms from your hands which helps stop the spread of infection. The recommendations for washing your hands by following the 12 steps shown in the image below. Using Hand Sanitiser When you don’t have access to soap and water, using hand sanitiser containing at least 60% alcohol, such as PrimeOn Hand Sanitiser is a great way to ensure your hands are clean. Make sure to check the bottle’s label for the kill log rate to see how effective it is. When using hand sanitiser, make sure to follow the steps below: Cough and Sneeze Etiquette As droplets from coughs and sneezes travel up to 2 metres, these simple steps can help to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Individuals with symptoms of acute respiratory infection should practise cough etiquette by maintaining distance with others. Where possible, close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections should be avoided.
To break the chain and prevent infection, it is important to be more mindful about the surfaces we touch and to keep those surfaces clean. It is recommended to enhance the cleaning and disinfecting of a patient’s environment. Healthcare workers should wear gloves and PPE when in a patient’s surrounding and clean high-risk areas to prevent any potential spread of the infection.
Reference List: Pan, M., Lednicky, J. and Wu, C., 2019. Collection, particle sizing and detection of airborne viruses. Journal of Applied Microbiology, [online] 127(6), pp.1596-1611. Available at: <https://sfamjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/jam.14278> [Accessed 24 April 2020]. Shaban, R., Sotomayor-Castillo, C., Radford, K., Bell, S. and Malik, J., 2020. COVID-19 And Breaking The Chain Of Infection. [online] Hospitalhealth.com.au. Available at: <https://www.hospitalhealth.com.au/content/clinical-services/article/covid-19-and-breaking-the-chain-of-infection-691528450#ixzz6K6ktlGun> [Accessed 21 April 2020] . van Doremalen, N., Bushmaker, T., Morris, D., Holbrook, M., Gamble, A., Williamson, B., Tamin, A., Harcourt, J., Thornburg, N., Gerber, S., Lloyd-Smith, J., de Wit, E. and Munster, V., 2020. Aerosol and surface stability of HCoV-19 (SARS-CoV-2) compared to SARS-CoV-1. MedRXiV, World Health Organization. Global Surveillance for human infection with the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). World Health Organization, 2020. What are the components of the infection chain?The six links include: the infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, mode of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host. The way to stop germs from spreading is by interrupting this chain at any link.
What are the three chains of infection?Infectious agent (pathogen) Reservoir (the normal location of the pathogen) Portal of exit from the reservoir. Mode of transmission.
What are the 6 principles of the chain of infection?The 6 points include: the infectious agent, reservoir, portal of exit, means of transmission, portal of entry, and susceptible host.
What are the components of the chain of infection quizlet? An Infectious Agent or Pathogen.. A Reservoir or Source for Pathogen Growth.. A Port of Exit from Reservoir.. A Mode of Transmission.. Port of Entry to A Host.. A Susceptible Host.. |