HEALTH
Waste management is very crucial for the healthy living of human being. Healthcare facilities may create general waste during their normal healthcare services. Most of the waste generated in hospitals include solid wastes which in most times in not disposed of appropriately. Failure to dispose of hospital waste effectively can lead to ill health both the healthcare providers and the patients in the hospital. It is therefore very crucial for hospitals to implement effective waste management strategies.
Infectious waste results from normal laboratory operations. It may come from body fluids like contaminated blood of discarded samples. It may also be in the form of culture or other agents, for example, infected animals. Bandages and other surgical instruments from infected patients are also infectious waste. Management of infectious waste effectively can highly reduce the spread of infectious outbreaks (Pazoki, Rahmana and Abbaszadeh, 2018).
Segregation of medical waste is very vital in healthcare routine. Some hospital waste is sharp an infectious and can cause diseases if not disposed of effectively. It is very vital for medical workers to learn the necessary precautions for better hospital waste segregation practice. According to Health BMC (2019). Authorities should avail onsite waste receivers and the necessary personnel training for better waste segregation. Failure to observe the practice of segregation poses a threat to the environment.
Waste treatment and disposal aim at reducing the environmental pollution the waste poses. While treating and disposing of medical waste, it is important to know the volume and the composition of the waste. Incarnation or open burning of waste is very common in the health facilities of third world countries. This method is however very harmful to the environment as it releases toxic gases to the air. Solid waste can also be dumped in segregated areas within the hospital, the dump areas are well planned to reduce pollution. In addition, waste can also be decomposed by use of micro-organisms through techniques like windrow composting.
Hospital acquires infections are the infection that a patient may contact while receiving medical attention. These infections may be as a result of poor hygiene practice of healthcare providers. Ineffective handling of infectious waste may also cause such infections. This infection is very serious but can very much be avoided and prevented. Healthcare provides should sterilize all surgical instruments and dispose of them effectively after use to avoid the spread of disease-causing microorganisms. Healthcare sanitation procedures like hand washing and other preventive should be implemented to control hospital acquire infections.
Microbiology of hospital infections includes airborne infections like pneumonia and tuberculosis and other infections, for example, urinary tract infections. They are caused by fungi and bacteria. These infections are dangerous and hard to treat. These infections spread fast within and outside the hospital and contribute to a lot of deaths. Nurses should put in place measures to control the spread of this disease cause bacteria (Abram and Sattar, 2017)
Hospital infections can come with the patients. Patients are normally poor health state and their bodies are too weak to fight these microorganisms. Old age and premature birth make individuals more exposed to attack by these infections. The hospital can generate these infections mainly from poor hygiene practice and ineffective treatment and disposal of healthcare devices. It can also come from an infected healthcare provider.
Hospital infections can be transmitted through direct contact where a patient transfers an infection to the healthcare provider during medical visits. Airborne infections are another mode of transmission, it occurs for viruses and bacteria present in the air; the most common method of transmission of hospital infection is an indirect method. These occur when an infected medical worker touches a healthcare instrument and contaminates it, any contact between a patient and a contaminated device leads to infection.
It is vital to determine the clinical feature and the pathogenicity of an infectious agent. This information helps healthcare providers on how to handle the infected patient. Pathogens in small wards are relatively fewer than those in large environments. During cold seasons, airborne infections are more because pathogens number in the cold season is more. This knowledge helps the medical workers to pay more attention to patients who are exposed to hospital infections, place them in safer rooms. It is also important to protect patients from direct and indirect transmission of the infections more so when the pathogen number is high that is cold seasons.
Laboratory diagnosis of microbial diseases. The process begins with the determination of the type of microorganism causing the infection. Different microorganisms are diagnosed in different ways. The diagnosis begins with a determination of microbial infection causes which could be viruses, fungi or bacteria. Specimens are then collected and processed according to the signs and symptoms of the patient. The specimen should be of the right quantity. Microbiologic examinations are then carried out by applying the appropriate examination techniques like direct examination and microbial identification.
Diagnosis of the virus can be done through examining the specimen directly, isolation of the virus and serology. Direct examination shows the presence of virus particles or antigens of the virus in the specimen. Virus isolation is then done to make the virus grow. It can be placed in culture cell, egg pocks or animal so as to make it grow. Serology is the detection of antibodies in different stages of infection. Serology can be done through classical or modern techniques.
References
Abirami, E., Venkatesan, P., Shanmugam, P., & Sattar, S. B. A. (2017). A study on Catheter-related bloodstream infections (CRBSI) in Intensive care unit patients in a tertiary care hospital. Indian Journal of Microbiology Research, 4(2), 138-143.
Chaerul, M., Tanaka, M., & Shekdar, A. V. (2008). A system dynamics approach for hospital waste management. Waste Management, 28(2), 442-449
Pazoki, M., Rahnama, F., Abbaszadeh, R., & Mirabdollah, E. (2018). Assessment of antibacterial activity of non-thermal plasma in the sterilization of infectious wastes. Advances in Environmental Technology, 4(4), 197-202.
Sahiledegle, B. Self-reported healthcare waste segregation practice and its correlate among healthcare workers in hospitals of Southeast Ethiopia. BMC Health Serv Res 19, 591 (2019).