NURS 289 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Personal Protective Equipment, Opportunistic Infection, Asepsis
11 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
An infection is an invasion of body tissue by a microorganism (infectious agent) that causes damage to the host tissue. Some infections are caused by normal resident flora that"s moved to a new location. Asepsis is freedom from disease causing micro-organisms. Infections that happened as a result of being in a hospital used to be known as nosocomial infections, but now they are given the broader term of health care associated infections. Pathogenicity is the ability to produce disease. An opportunistic pathogen causes disease only in a susceptible individual. Pathogens vary in their virulence- their power to overcome the host"s defenses. Non specific defences involve anatomical and physiological barriers and the inflammatory response. Specific defences involve antigens and the immune system. For an infection to occur: the microorganisms have to overcome the defenses: the microorganism are highly virulent, the microbial load (# of infectious agents present) is greater than defences present, defense mechanisms are reduced or compromised.
