Final answer:
Patients can acquire infections in hospitals, known as nosocomial infections, due to exposure to pathogens within the healthcare setting, with transmission occurring through various routes. The reservoir of infection can be individuals or objects in the hospital. Differentiating between nosocomial and iatrogenic diseases is significant for prevention and treatment.
Step-by-step explanation:
How Hospital Patients Acquire Infections
Patients who do not enter the hospital with an infection but later acquire one typically suffer from nosocomial infections, also known as hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). These infections occur due to exposure to pathogens within the hospital setting. The transmission of infections in hospitals can happen through various routes, including contact with healthcare workers' hands, instruments, or surfaces that are contaminated. The methods of transmission include direct contact, droplet spread, airborne, common vehicle, and vector-borne spread.
The reservoir of infection in a healthcare setting can be the patients themselves, healthcare workers, visitors, or inanimate objects such as medical devices and equipment. Common routes of pathogen transmission in hospitals include the urinary tract, surgical sites, respiratory tract, and bloodstream, often associated with the use of medical devices like catheters, ventilators, and central lines.
Among the factors that can lead to the formation of biofilms on in-dwelling catheters and prostheses, which contribute to the persistence of infections, are the organism's ability to adhere to surfaces, the immune response of the patient, and the presence of certain materials that provide a substrate for biofilm formation.
Iatrogenic diseases are conditions that result from medical procedures and treatments, such as medication side effects or complications from surgery, while nosocomial diseases specifically refer to infections acquired within a hospital setting. Understanding the differences between these types of diseases is critical for implementing appropriate measures to prevent their occurrence. Correct diagnosis is crucial for targeting the pathogen with an effective treatment, reducing the potential for antimicrobial resistance, and preventing further transmission of the infection.