HOSPITAL WASTE

HOSPITAL WASTE:

It refers to all waste, biological or non-biological, discarded and not intended for further use. These are the waste generated by the health care establishments, research facilities and laboratories. Hospital waste is the second most hazardous waste after radioactive waste.

• Of the total amount of waste generated by health-care activities, about 85% is general, non-hazardous waste. The remaining 15% is considered hazardous material that may be infectious, toxic or radioactive.
• An estimated 16 billion injections per year are administered worldwide, but not all of the needles and syringes are properly disposed afterwards.
• Measures to ensure the safe and environmentally sound management of health care wastes can prevent adverse health and environmental impacts from such waste including the unintended release of chemical or biological hazards, including drug-resistant microorganisms, into the environment thus protecting the health of patients, health workers, and the general public.

RISKS OF INFECTION TRANSMISSION

RISKS OF INFECTION TRANSMISSION IN A HEALTH CARE SETTING

Patient to health care workers transmission:

-          Parenteral exposure – example: needle stick injury

-          Mucous membrane contact – contact of blood through person’s mouth or eyes

-          Nasal non-intact skin contact – enter of blood into open wounds or broken skin due to wound, acne, chapped skin, dermatitis or other skin infection

Patient to patient transmission

-          Blood contaminated needles, syringes, equipment which has not been properly sterilized or disinfected before use

-          Blood transmission with contaminated blood or blood products

SCOPE OF INFECTION CONTROL PROGRAM

SCOPE OF INFECTION CONTROL PROGRAM

1.      Staff Education

2.      Isolation Precautions and treatment of infection diseases

3.      Antibiotic control

4.      Surveillance

5.      Employee Health Program

The Disease Transmission Cycle

INFECTION CONTROL 

The Disease Transmission Cycle

AGENT – Disease-producing microorganisms

RESERVOIR – Place where the agent lives such as in or humans, animals, plants, the soil, air or water

PLACE OF EXIT – Where the agent leaves the host

METHOD OF TRANSMISSION – How the agent travels from place to place or person to person

PLACE OF ENTRY – where the agent enters the next host

SUSCEPTIBLE HOST – person who can become infected