MRSA Research Paper

Health care facilities today have various precautions that they take every day to ensure that every patient who visits their facility is adequately taken care of. These precautions include anything that will benefit the patient in a positive manner to improve their health and natural well-being. Infection control is one of the most important precautions to always perform while in any hospital departments. This precaution must be religiously performed in every department to keep it in top shape. This is especially true for a radiology department. Patients are constantly brought in and exposed to the same equipment as everybody else. It is a very simple concept to understand and perform; however, it can have deadly consequences when it is not
adequately taken care of. An infection acquired within a health care system is called a nosocomial infection. It is estimated that 1.7 million nosocomial infections are acquired every year costing the United States approximately 45 billion dollars a year. Of those infected, approximately 98,000 people die from nosocomial infections.1 Nosocomial infections rank as one of the top five causes of death in the United States.2 For these infections to be spread from person to person, there are six components that must be active for a disease to be spread to another person. These six components are an infectious agent, a reservoir, a portal of exit, a mode of transmission, a portal of entry, and a susceptible host. The infectious agent is the disease itself. The reservoir is the habitat that the disease lives in while still in its original host. The portal of exit is the method of how to disease will leave its current host. The mode of transmission is the process or means of how the disease will transfer from one host to another. The portal of entry is the method of how the disease will enter the new host’s body. The susceptible host is the new host who has the optimal conditions and situations to allow the disease to take root and thrive within the new body.1 The radiology department within every health care system is exposed to various infectious diseases on a daily basis. Some of the more common disease that can easily be obtained within a radiology department include methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), clostridium difficile (C-diff), vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE), influenza, measles, mumps, rubella, pertussis, varicella, and tuberculosis (TB).1 These various diseases are easily transmitted to the equipment used within a radiology department. In 2013, a study was performed by Giacometti and his associates. They tested image receptor cassettes, x-ray tubes, imaging plates, and imaging control panels for colony forming units (CFU) from 12 radiology departments in Turin, Italy. Nine of these radiology departments were at hospitals, and two of the nine were primarily for the emergency department.3 The highest level of CFU obtained from the x-ray tube at one department was 120 while the lowest level of CFU was 0. The highest level of CFU obtained from the control panel at one department was 1000 while the lowest level of CFU was 6. The highest level of CFU obtained from the imaging plate at one department was 250 while the lowest level of CFU was 7.5. The highest level of CFU obtained from the image receptor cassettes at one department was 8 while the lowest level of CFU was 0. The average CFU of all 12 departments was 25.4 for the x-ray tube, 280.5 for the control panel, 99.8 for the imaging plate, and 1.7 for the image receptor cassettes. It was concluded that the staff at each department were regularly cleaning the image receptor cassettes but were not consistent with the other equipment within their department, especially the control consol.3 The CFUs formed in this study were not specifically identified as any particular infectious disease.3 Any of the previously mentioned common infectious diseases obtained within a radiology department could have been to blame for the CFUs found on each piece of equipment. However, out of these commonly obtained nosocomial infections, MRSA is one of the most acquired infections within a health care system. MRSA is transferred from person to person by direct contact. This occurs most often by hand to skin interaction. In the radiology department, this can also include a patient coming in direct contact with a piece of radiology equipment that has not been properly cleaned after MRSA has been applied to the equipment. MRSA can also be obtained from invasive medical devices that have also been in contact with a previous MRSA infection.2 MRSA presents itself very similar to any other type of staph infection.
An infected area may become red, swollen, filled with pus, very warm to touch, and extremely painful. MRSA infections generally present themselves on the back of the neck, the legs, buttocks, and groin. Although these are the common areas for MRSA to form, it can develop on any area of the body. If left untreated, a MRSA infection will increase in size and possibly spread over the body. The infection can also become so infected that it requires surgical drainage or removal of tissue. If MRSA is acquired invasively, it can become so severe that sepsis, necrotizing fasciitis, and even death can become
possible.2 There are many methods and precautions used to help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. The most important and easiest method is hand washing. Hand washing has not been explicitly pressed onto health care workers in the past but is gaining influence in recent years. Hand washing alone has been proven to reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as MRSA. Hands should be washed every time after contact with a patient, contact with bodily fluids, contact with wound dressings, and after removing gloves.4 According to hand hygiene product manufacturers, 15 to 20 seconds is the required time to clean hands although recent studies suggest that 15 seconds is not long enough. Hands can be washed with either warm or cold water as long as they are sufficiently cleaned. Frequent hand washing can lead to dermatitis which can result in a perfect reservoir for bacteria to colonize. To prevent dermatitis, lotions should be used to keep the hands from cracking. Also scentless soaps and lotions should be used to prevent contact dermatitis for both patients and staff. Cleaning all equipment, especially within a radiology department, can also help prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Cleaning all equipment with disinfection towels greatly reduces the possibility of spreading infectious diseases.5 Some other precautions used to prevent the spread of infectious diseases include contact, droplet, and airborne precautions.
Contact precautions are used when a disease is known to be transmittable via direct or indirect contact. During this type of precaution, gowns and gloves must be worn while caring for the patient. Also if an image receptor is being used, it must be covered before coming in contact with the patient. Droplet precautions are used when a disease is known to be transmittable via close respiratory secretions. During this type of precaution, masks must be worn while caring for the patient. The patient must also wear a mask if being transferred to the radiology department. Airborne precautions are used when a disease is known to be transmittable via long distances in air. During this type of precaution, N95 respirator masks must be worn. The patient should be placed in a negative pressure room as
well.1 Nosocomial infections have become a common cause of disease through a lack of following specific protocols. These diseases can cause serious damage to patients who would not have obtained the disease in the first place. The easiest way to prevent this unfortunate predicament is by simply washing your hands and cleaning used equipment. By performing these easy precautions, we can help stop the spread of infectious diseases from person to person not only in a radiology department but across the entire health care system.