Final answer:
Prions are proteinaceous infectious particles that cause fatal diseases and are resistant to standard sterilization procedures, thus requiring special processing protocols for contaminated instruments.
Step-by-step explanation:
Prions are infectious proteinaceous particles that cause fatal neurodegenerative diseases like mad cow disease and kuru. Unlike other infectious agents, prions contain no nucleic acids, meaning they do not have DNA or RNA. Prions challenge standard sterilization protocols as they are remarkably resistant to heat, chemicals such as phenols and alcohols, formalin, and even B-propiolactone. Due to their resilience, instruments contaminated with prions need to be processed differently than standard protocols to prevent transmission.
These abnormal proteins have a unique ability to induce normal forms of the protein to misfold into their infectious form. Handling and disposing of prion-infected items require meticulous training and extreme caution because prions remain infectious even after the application of typical disinfection procedures. Despite medical advances, prion diseases cannot be cured, and support for affected patients is centered around comfort.
In conclusion, aggressive measures beyond typical sterilization are necessary to deactivate prions, and medical instruments used in potential prion contamination must undergo these special processing protocols to ensure safety.