Acquired Infection

Running head: ACQUIRED INFECTION
ACQUIRED INFECTION
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
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1ACQUIRED INFECTION
Introduction:
Methillin resistant staphylococcus Aureus or the MRSA is one of the types of bacterium
that are responsible for causing infections in different parts of the body. This organism is very
difficult to treat as they are resistant to a large number of antibiotics. These organisms are mainly
seen to cause various types of problems as it ranges from skin infections and sepsis to that of
bloodstream infections and pneumonia (Haysom et al. 2018). Therefore, nursing professionals
who provide wound care treatment to different patients need to be very careful regarding their
hygiene maintenance so that the patients do not get vulnerable to such disorders (Zingg et al.
2015). The assignments will mainly show the incidence and prevalence of the infectious
organisms, differences between the two types of infections, care habits that professionals need to
uptake and multi-disciplinary team support that would provide care to the patients.
Incidence and prevalence of MRSA:
Staphylococcus Aureaus is considered to be one of the major bacterial pathogen that
remains intricately associated with the considerable mortality and morbidity of not only patents
in the healthcare centres but also in the communities that have the infections of the organism.
Manifestations of this form of pathogen are seen to take place in the form of occurrence of
infections that may range from mild to that of moderate skin (Banach et al. 2015). In many cases,
studies have also shown that such pathogens may also cause soft tissue infections such as
impetigo and furunculosis and may result in invasive as well as life threatening infections like
osteomyletis. Necrotitis pneumonia and infective cardititis are also seen to occur. Other disorder
that may also take pace is called the bacteraemia. In the present generation, not only in the nation
of Australia but also in the rest of the world, antimicrobial resistance in the pathogen can be

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described as the major impediment for effective treatment. Researchers have stated that most of
the hospital strains are not only resistant to methicillin but also to other multiple antimicrobials.
From the studies conducted in the year 2014, it is known that about 27 institutions around the
nation of Australia had participated in the Australian Staphylococcal Sepsis Outcome
Programme (ASSOP) (Huang et al. 2016). It was found that 18.8% of the 2206 Staphylococcus
aureus bacteraemia (SAB) isolates were found to be methicillin resistant. This was significantly
higher than the other European countries. They had also found that the 30day all cause mortality
associated with MRSA infection was 23.4% and this is significantly higher than the 14.4%
mortality associated with the methicillin sensitive strains.
People who are receiving medical care in the healthcare centres can get serious infections
from these pathogens which is called the healthcare associated infections or the HAIS. This has
the capability to cause death in individuals besides tremendous suffering. Different hospitals are
seen to report various kinds of infections like the infections caused by C. difficile, infections that
follow surgery and even infections that may occur following the placement of a tube in the
bladder or a large vein. Researchers are of the opinion that HAIs are mainly caused by antibiotic
resistant bacteria that may lead to sepsis or death and MRSA is one of the such deadly strains
that result in increasing the sufferings of patients mainly affecting wound management and many
others (Ji 2016). On the other hand it is seen that when people in the community settings acquire
such pathogens they are called the community acquired MRSA. However, the level of incidence
in the community is much smaller than that of the healthcare settings. However, researchers are
of the opinion that people are more prone to get community-acquired MRSA when they have
skin trauma, skin tattoos or body piercing, previous infection with MRSA, sharing equipments or
supplies that are not cleaned or laundered and many others. People living in the communities like

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those in prisons, people in military or people in athletic teams are also prone to development of
such disorders (Lee et al. 2015).
Risk factors:
Many risk factors expose individuals to development of infections by MRSA.
Researchers are of the opinion that mainly three types of risk factors result in the infection of
MRSA among different individuals. The first one risk factor is being hospitalised. It is seen that
those individuals who have been hospitalised become more vulnerable to the occurrence of this
infection. Studies conducted over the years have shown that older adults, children and those who
have weakened immune systems are more vulnerable to the disorders. Another risk factor is
witnessed when patients are provided with invasive medical device (Salge et al. 2017).
Researchers conducted over the years have shown that medical tubing like in cases of the
intravenous lines as well as urinary catheters also act as a pathway for MRSA for travelling in
the body. Another risk factor is that individuals who live for long-term facility in healthcare
centres are also highly vulnerable to acquire the infection. They may be also carrier where they
might not be affected themselves but they may make others sick. In the case study provided, it
was seen that Mrs. Jenkins had also been exposed to the environment of the healthcare when she
had faced a fall. She had been admitted to emergency centre for her treatment of the wounds and
this might have been the situation when she had acquired the infection (Vaidya et al. 2015). The
healthcare environments or the nursing professionals may not have maintained proper hygiene
for which she might have been exposed to the infection (Ventola et al. 2015). Moreover, as she is
old she is also vulnerable to the disorder, as researchers have mentioned that old patients are
more vulnerable to this infection.