Safety when using microbiology is very important, hazards can be anything from bags in the way, drinks or food on the work bench, wounding, contamination, ingestion. All these are dangerous when using Bunsen burners and bacteria. A few ways to avoid these hazards would be to first tidy the work bench disinfect the area where you will be working, move any clutter, bags, phones, food and drink. You don’t want any personal items coming in contact with the bacteria. Disinfecting the area is important so you don’t get any cross contamination when using bacteria and agar plates. Personal safety to ensure hair is tied back you wouldn’t want your hair to catch fire or be dipped in any solutions. Always make sure lab coats and goggles are on to ensure …show more content…
Spread plates are mainly used with a diluted solution or mixed with microbes so that individual colonies can be isolated. Spreading 0.5ml of a sample over the agar jelly with a L shaped glass spreader to ensure that the bacteria is spread as even as possible over the full surface of the agar plate to separate the bacteria. This method is used to count the number of colonies on the surface one advantage is that cultures are never exposed to more than 45oC .
Contamination
Cross contamination in the health care setting can happen in a number of different ways, from eating and drinking, smoking, applying cosmetics, preparing food, performing clean r sterile procedures, working with patients.
A patient’s environment in the health care setting can also be a place of cross contamination, the most problematic area for cross contamination is a patient’s entire bedside area. This area includes the bed, bedside table, bed frame and rails, bed clothes pillows, sheets, clothing and bed side chairs.
Three main control measures that are applied in the healthcare setting are to clean and disinfect everything that is touched, cooked with, handled, patients come in to contact with. Regular hand washing is essential for any health care setting along with the exclusion and chortling of ill
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The sources of infection from these bacteria are usually contaminated food and water. People can be infected by ingestion of contaminated food or water especially undercooked chicken or contaminated water. Contact with infected animals especially puppies or kittens with diarrhoea, poor food handling especially the same chopping boards, knives, plates for raw and cooked food.
Campylobacter food poisoning symptoms usually last 2 to 5 days. These include diarrhoea, severe abdominal pain, vomiting and fever. Campylobacter is a serious disease in indigenous communities because of the possibility of dehydration from diarrhoea.
The bacteria in campylobacter reproduce by splitting in half, when they are split in half they have multiplied in the right conditions they can multiply at a very fast rate. The ideal temperature for bacteria to multiply is 37oc this is human body temperature. Moisture around the bacteria helps the bacteria to grow along with other sources of food supply around that can be contaminated or already may be contaminated. Bacteria in the right conditions can multiply every twenty minutes, if a piece of meat is left out in a hospital kitchen and has 100 food bacteria on it and was left lying on a kitchen bench on a warm day the bacteria would double their number every 20 minutes. After returning to the meat three hours later the 100 food poisoning bacteria will have multiplied to
Fever and chills are also common. At least two-thirds of patients complain of abdominal cramps. The duration of fever and diarrhea varies, but is usually 2 to 7 days”. S. typhimurium can cause many problems for consumers when there is an outbreak in products. Some of the more recent products that have been contaminated and pulled from store shelves are, cantaloupes, ground beef and poultry products, according to the CDC.
Many children around the world , especially in third world countries suffer many bacterial infection of the gastrointestinal system as a result of lack of awareness and the spread of the disease in the less attention to hygiene and the environment . In order to explain this word gastrointestinal tract infection , especially the stomach and intestines , it can result from infection by bacteria or virus or other parasites (1) . Some of the causes of inflammation as a result of eating food poisoning , especially meat and eggs . However , some symptoms of severe cases are headache , nausea , vomiting , general weakness , diarrhea and pain , the illness begins suddenly with high fever , vomiting , abdominal pain and stool liquid to water that may contain some blood and mucus . The result of drought through loss of fluids and salts and lead an alliance with the poisoning to the collapse of the circulatory system in diseases such as cholera (2) . It must be conducted in diagnosing bacterial to find the source of infection because it causes illness and death of millions in the third world and in particularly children as mentioned . In this report will refer to the most common types of bacteria cause gastrointestinal tract infection for example , Shigella , Salmonella , Vibrio and Campylobacter (3) . First of all , Shigella is gram negative , nonmotile , non lactose fermenting and H2S production . There are four important species , S. sonnei , S. flexneri , S. boydii and S. dysenteriae is the most serious . Next is Salmonella which is gram negative as well , non lactose fermenting and production H2S . These species are S. typhi and S. paratyphi found in humans and animals . Finally , Campylobacter is gram negati...
Salmonella is one of the most common causes of food poisoning. It is a gram-negative, aerobic (oxygen requiring), rod-shaped bacterium that can infect humans, birds, reptiles, and other animals. It results in the swelling of the lining of the stomach and intestines. Salmonella food poisoning occurs worldwide, however it is most frequently reported in North America and Europe. In the United States, Salmonella is responsible for about 15% of all cases of food poisoning (Salmonella food poisoning).
This literature review will analyze and critically explore four studies that have been conducted on hand hygiene compliance rates by Healthcare workers (HCWs). Firstly, it will look at compliance rates for HCWs in the intensive care units (ICU) and then explore the different factors that contribute to low hand hygiene compliance. Hospital Acquired infections (HAI) or Nosocomial Infections appear worldwide, affecting both developed and poor countries. HAIs represent a major source of morbidity and mortality, especially for patients in the ICU (Hugonnet, Perneger, & Pittet, 2002). Hand hygiene can be defined as any method that destroys or removes microorganisms on hands (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009). According to the World Health Organization (2002), a HAI can be defined as an infection occurring in a patient in a hospital or other health care facility in whom the infection was not present or incubating at the time of admission. The hands of HCWs transmit majority of the endemic infections. As
Investigating the Causes of Food Poisoning INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this essay is to investigate and find out what causes food poisoning, the bacteria’s that causes, the symptoms, the infections and its prevention’s. Food poisoning is commonly found in UK. Generally food poisoning result from contamination of food and the subsequent growth of food poisoning micro-organise. Food poisoning outbreaks ore often recognised by the sudden onset of illness within a short period of time among many individuals who have eaten or drunk one or more foods in common The most serious types of food poisoning are due to bacteria. Bacteria are microscopic organisms that are found everywhere, which is in the air, soil, water, plant, animals and human body.
Medical asepsis plays an integral role in infection control within a health care facility. It includes procedures used to decrease and prevent direct contact with blood or bodily fluids and emphasizes keeping the environment clean on a regular basis (Curchoe, Astle, & Hobbs, 2014). In order to achieve optimal health, individuals depend on practices and techniques that control and ultimately prevent the transmission of infection. These practices and techniques can help avoid the transmission of infections by creating an environment that protects both health care workers and patients from communicable diseases. Good hand hygiene has been stressed as the single most important measure to prevent cross-infection to patients in health care facilities
...s and hoses, control buttons, switches, hand pieces, and X-ray units (Collins). After every patient’s visit, the operatory is to be sterilized and disinfected. All areas that were that were not covered with a barrier, or if the barrier was compromised, must be wiped down with surface disinfectants similarly used in hospitals. OSHA requires disinfectants to be potent enough to fight against HIV and HBV infections (Collins). If there is any blood present on a surface, tuberculocidal type disinfectant should be utilized.
Introduction: The operating theatre is a particular area in the hospital. This special care environment with developed techniques generates several ranges of risks for the patient including the occurrence of infection. Inappropriate staff behaviors and practices can lead to cross contamination in the OR and subsequent surgical site infection (SSI). SSI is a major public health problem.
“Researchers in London estimate that if everyone routinely washed their hands, a million deaths a year could be prevented” (“Hygiene Fast Facts”, 2013, p. 1). Hands are the number one mode of transmission of pathogens. Hands are also vital in patient interaction, and therefore should be kept clean to protect the safety of patients and the person caring for the patient. Hand hygiene is imperative to professional nursing practice because it prevents the spread of pathogens, decreases chances of hospital-acquired infections, and promotes patient safety. There is a substantial amount of evidence that shows why hand hygiene is important in healthcare
What is Foodborne Illness? According to a medical dictionary, foodborne illness is an acute gastrointestinal infection caused by consuming food contaminated with pathogenic, bacteria, toxins, viruses, prions or parasites. Such contamination was caused by improper food handling, preparation or storage of food. Contacts between food and pests, especially flies, cockroaches and rodents are a further cause of contamination of food. Foodborne illness can also be caused by adding pesticides or medicine to food or consuming or by accidentally consuming naturally poisonous substances. That is why foodborne illness can also be called food poisoning.
Food-borne transmission refers to any illness that results due to the consumption of contaminated food, pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as chemical or natural toxins such as poisonous mushrooms (cdc.gov). Bacteria is the most often the pathogen that causes food-borne illness. This is usually due to improper handling of foods, improper preparation of food and improper food storage. According to the CDC, the top 5 contributing pathogens to food-borne illness are Norovirus, non-typhoidal Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter spp. and Staphylococcus aureus.
Food borne illnesses are caused by consuming contaminated foods or beverages. There are many different disease-causing microbes, or pathogens. In addition, poisonous chemicals, or other harmful substances can cause food borne illnesses if they are present in food. More than two hundred and fifty different food borne illnesses have been described; almost all of these illnesses are infections. They are caused by a variety of bacteria, viruses, and parasites that can be food borne. (Center 1)
Everyone in the laboratory needs to wear splash goggles for eye protection at all times, and safety goggles are uniquely designed to protect lab used in case of an accident. The clothing worn must cover the whole body and should not have loose ends. All users should also wear closed shoes that are flat; you should not wear sandals, woven shoes or any other open shoes (Malcom, 2009). Jewelry and other accessories are prohibited and should not be worn in the laboratory. Finally, all Lab users require wearing protective gloves that protect the hands and should ensure the correct use. While in the chemistry lab one needs to wear all the required personal safety clothing for personal safety reasons.
The biosafety program ensures the competency of the laboratory staff in safely performing their job through training and documentation of technical expertise. The laboratory staff must manifest professional responsibility for management of research materials complying with appropriate materials management procedures. A hallmark of biosafety practices requires laboratory access to be limited to essential personnel only when work with biological agents is in progress. Biosecurity practices on the other hand ensure that access to the laboratory facility and biological materials are limited and controlled. An inventory system must also be in place so as to control and track biological stocks or other potentially hazardous biological agents in both biosafety and biosecurity programs. For biosafety, the transfer and shipping of infectious biological materials must comply with safe packaging, containment and appropriate transport procedures, while biosecurity ensures that transfers are controlled, tracked and documented relative to the potential risks of the materials being transferred. Both programs must involve the laboratory staff in the development of practices and procedures that fulfills the requirements of biosafety and biosecurity initiatives without hindering research or clinical/diagnostic activities. The success of both of these programs is anchored on a laboratory culture
Contamination of food is the key factor that is responsible for food poisoning. These can happen anywhere be it restaurants, picnics and even at home when foods are prepared in unhygienic places and in an unhygienic manner. The causes of food poisoning can be broadly divided into two categories: