biomedical mini project

Epidemiologist Sophia Tran discusses an outbreak at Garcia New Garden Memorial Hospital. The outbreak was caused by a hospital-acquired infection. Sophia determined that the infection was not spread person-to-person, but rather through contaminated antiseptic wipes. She identified the pathogen responsible as bacteria, specifically S. aureus. To prevent further cases, hand hygiene, environmental hygiene, and vaccination are important. The hospital has safety measures in place to ensure patient safety. Hello everyone, and welcome to Metagossip, your go-to gossip surrounding the medical field. I'm Quinn, and joining me today is Epidemiologist Sophia Tran. Together, we're here to discuss the outbreak that occurred at Garcia New Garden Memorial Hospital, GNMH, that's making others so paranoid of going to this hospital. Hi everyone, thrilled to be here. I'm happy to address the situation and reassure those that we have said outbreak under control. I can assure you there's no need to be concerned about getting infected or sick coming here. Thanks, Sophia. First of all, can you please tell our audience what an epidemiologist is and why you were called at GNMH? Also, how did you even find out that the outbreak happened only in the hospital? Well, epidemiologists are like detectives or investigators for diseases and or outbreaks. They're healthcare experts who study trends in health issues within populations. I was called in to investigate the cause of the outbreak and how to resolve it, where I was presented with 11 patients with similar symptoms and illnesses that are nosocomial, an infection acquired at a hospital. The hospital was able to deduce that this was an HAI, known as a hospital-acquired infection, as the patients did not have their symptoms when they were admitted into the hospital, meaning that they acquired their symptoms at the hospital. How did you figure out that this outbreak disease was not spread by person-to-person contact? What was the source of the infections? Thanks for asking, Quinn. To track down the source, I had to find the similarities between the patient's symptoms and any common supplies, treatment, or equipment used on them. Seven had respiratory tract infections, three had pus-filled pimples, and one had a UTI. I then shifted my suspicion on items that were recently recalled due to being contaminated, narrowing the source of the infections down to romaine lettuce, antiseptic wipes, and aspirin. All of the patients used antiseptic wipes as all of them had saline IVs and three of them had surgery, concluding the source was the antiseptic wipes, thus it was not spread via person-to-person. Epidemiologists really are like detectives, sounds like a lot of steps to go through. How did you figure out what agent of disease it was? Well, agents of disease are pathogens, which are infectious organisms that enter the body of another organism, called the host. There are six, bacteria, virus, helminths, protists, prions, and fungi. Using how these pathogens are able to be contracted, I was able to narrow it down to fungi and bacteria using the process of elimination. Prions affect the brain, helminths and protists are consumed, and the virus doesn't fit in with what the pathogen did to these infections. Bacteria and fungi both are capable of being spread through inhalation and or infected items. Oh, so how did you find which pathogen was ultimately responsible? I viewed a microscope of bacteria and fungi and compared it to a microscope slide of the agent found on the antiseptic wipes. Bacteria matched the image of the microscope slide. How are the patients who were infected treated and what steps should be taken to prevent additional cases or infection in general? The species of bacteria that caused the nosocomial outbreak between these 11 patients was S. aureus. It's important to narrow down the possible species and make it easier to determine which one or more it is in order to decrease the likelihood of others being infected. I did this by looking at the characteristics of different types of bacteria. Since it's bacteria, it can be treated with antibiotics that the bacteria isn't resistant to. Key things to prevent additional cases of infection include hand hygiene, environmental hygiene, wearing gloves, gowns, masks, and eye protection as needed, isolate infected patients, and importantly, get your vaccinations. Alright that wraps up the issue, thanks Sophia. See people, don't be concerned if you go to GNMH. The chance of getting a nosocomial infection is nil as the hospital especially has safety medical measures implemented to keep you safe. This has been Quinn, today's host for your go-to gossip surrounding the medical field, Metagossip. Thank you for tuning in and don't forget to vaccinate and clean!