Afraid, no. But, you need to have great respect for the potential harm these bacteria and viruses can do to you and to your patients if you get laxed with cleaning and BSI. Infection control should not be taken lightly.
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE) are bacteria and not viruses.
Tuberculosis, TB, is caused by bacteria called Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis called MDR-TB is also prevalent in some areas.
Hepatitis C (HCV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) are viruses.
HCV can live outside the body on surfaces for several days.
HIV is a very fragile virus and does not survive long outside the body.
Colonization is the presence, growth, and multiplication of the organism without observable clinical symptoms or immune reaction.
MRSA - Colonization may occur in the nares, axillae, chronic wounds or decubitus ulcer surface, perineum, around gastrostomy and tracheostomy sites, in the sputum or urine. One of the most common sites of colonization in both patients and employees is the nose (anterior nares). While personnel may become colonized with MRSA (as they may with susceptible S. aureus), they rarely develop infections.
Enterococci are normally found in the bowel and the female genital tract. When exposed to antibiotics for any reason, the drug-resistant bacteria may survive and multiply, resulting in an overgrowth of drug-resistant enterococci in the bowel, referred to as colonization.
Infection refers to invasion of bacteria into tissue with replication of the organism. Infection is characterized by isolation of the organism accompanied by clinical signs of illness such as either fever, elevated white blood count, purulence (pus), pneumonia, inflammation (warmth, redness, swelling), etc.
Mode of Transmission - MRSA is transmitted primarily by contact with a person who either has a purulent site of infection, a clinical infection of the respiratory tract or urinary tract, or is colonized with the organism. Hands of personnel appear to be the most likely mode of transmission of MRSA from patient-to-patient. MRSA can be present on the hands of personnel after performing such activities as wound debridement, dressing changes, tracheal suctioning, and catheter care.
Reservoirs for MRSA - Colonized and infected patients are the major reservoir of MRSA. MRSA has been isolated from environmental surfaces including floors, sinks, and work areas, tourniquets used for blood drawing, and blood pressure cuffs. Evironmental surfaces should be routinely disfected to reduce the bacterial load.
Reservoirs of VRE - Enterococci are part of the normal flora of the gastrointestinal tract and female genitourinary tracts. Most infections with these microorganisms have been attributed to the patient's endogenous flora. However, a recent study found VRE is capable of prolonged survival on hands, gloves, and environmental surfaces. E. faecalis was recovered from countertops for 5 days; the E. faecium persisted for 7 days. Thus environmental surfaces may serve as potential reservoirs for nosocomial transmission of VRE and need to be considered when cleaning equipment.
Healthcare workers can have skin lesions infected with MRSA and should be treated. Decolonization should be considered for those employees with persistent MRSA nasal carriage (ex. chronic sinusitis), especially if the healthcare worker had contact with patients who were subsequently found to be positive for the same strains.
This information is to educate and not to frighten. Most of the bacteria and viruses mentioned may not affect a healthy individual but can be deadly to the next patient you transport if you do not take a few simple precautions. Patients trust you and it is up to you to see that you do them no harm. That means learning about and diligently practicing good infection control.
Also, if you have small children, don't let them play with your stethoscope. Don't keep your stethoscope around your neck directly on your skin. Change your clothes and wash well before entering your living quarters especially if you have elderly or very young children in your household. Don't take your work home with you by way of bacteria and viruses.
If your place of employment does not offer adequate infection control information, check the continuing education classes for healthcare professions at the local community college (or online). Most will offer inexpensive 2 -3 hour classes on various infection control issues.
If, after you get much more education and you still have concerns about patient care and contracting a disease, you may need to re-evaluate your career choice. Healthcare is not for everyone and for some reason future EMTs (and Paramedics) don't always realize how much patient care and contact is involved when they enter these very short training programs. A healthcare worker must be able to provide quality patient care and if personal concerns prevent that, then the patient may suffer.
