 Hey everybody, Dr. O'Hare. In this video I want to talk about no-sacomial infections, also known as healthcare-associated infections. So I still call them no-sacomial infections. No-sacomial is Latin for hospital, but healthcare-associated infections is going to be the term you hear more often. And that's because these are infections that you get while you're receiving treatment in a healthcare facility or really anywhere for that matter. So you can't really call them hospital-acquired infections like they did for a while because this could be a physical therapist clinic, a surgery center, in-home healthcare can actually do no-sacomial or healthcare-associated infections. So just think that infection you get while you're receiving care for some other condition. All right, so why do they matter? And then we'll talk about why they're so powerful. So number one, even though we have infection control committees, we do our best, I mean you guys as healthcare students, you know about sterile fields and taking proper precautions and hand washing and all these things. There are still two million no-sacomial infections per year, leading to 20,000 or more deaths per year. So actually at this point, no-sacomial infections are the eighth leading cause of death. So let's look at why these microbes are so dangerous, and then we'll talk about where they happen and which ones are the most common and which ones are the most deadly. So we have this event diagram I made to describe this. So you see, number one, the microbes in the healthcare environment. Number two, we have compromised hosts, and number three, we have a chain of transmission. So let's look at all three and see how this is what leads to these healthcare-associated infections. Excuse me. Number one, the microbes. So think about a microbe that is living in a hospital. Number one, it may have already been a scary microbe because it made somebody sick and brought them to a healthcare environment or like a hospital. But also think of what it's been through. It's had quats thrown at it, maybe UV light, bleach, all sorts of different things. So if you're still alive and you live in a hospital room or a surgery center or something like that, you are tough, right? You are the fittest. You're the survivor. So think number one, tough microbes. Number two, we have weak hosts, compromised hosts. So think about the people that are receiving healthcare. Generally they're immunocompromised, either really young or really old, right? If you're really young, you don't have a mature immune system. If you're really old, it's starting to weaken. Maybe you're having surgery, obviously maybe you need something put into your body like a catheter, an IV catheter, a respiratory apparatus, whatever it might be. Maybe you have a burn. Maybe you're immunocompromised because you're pregnant. Maybe you have cancer, you're undergoing chemotherapy. I think you get the point. So you have really tough microbes in weak people, right? Compromised people. So that's bad enough. And then number three, we have the chain of transmission. So this is one where I always think back. I don't remember the specifics, but I remember on a show called House a few years ago, there was a baby, at least one baby died, others got really sick and they couldn't figure out what was happening. Ended up being a volunteer in this hospital was delivering little teddy bears to newborn babies and she was spreading, she was basically like the typhoid Mary of the gift shop. So think about all the people that come into your hospital room or all the people you come into contact with when you're receiving healthcare. So even in home healthcare, where was your provider right before they came to see you? What might they have brought with them? These types of things. But so think about people bringing food, pastors and priests coming into the room, your family and friends, doctors, nurses, techs, everyone. So all these people could potentially be carrying microbes around. Think about the people that made your food. People think about the people that put together your floral arrangements and all these kinds of things. So I think you get the point. So really tough microbes, weak hosts and microbes being carried and moved all throughout the healthcare setting. So this is why we have microbes that are capable of leading to these no-sacomial infections. So as far as like, let's talk about most common and most dangerous, most deadly real quickly, but the actual microbes change. It bounces back and forth from things like staff and C. diff and strep. Pseudomonas is a big one now. So the individual microbes, they're going to change. But the most common cause of no-sacomial infections is going to be catheters. So think urinary tract infections from urinary catheters, bacteria from intravenous catheters. So when you put those two together, they are the most common cause of no-sacomial infections. Then of course you have surgical side infections. That makes a lot of sense. You just cut a hole into someone. There's a really good chance that microbes are going to get in. Gastrointestinal ones as well, like you see, like C. diff infections and other GI infections are now becoming very common. So as far as most common, think catheters. Think UTIs, blood-borne infections from catheters. Most deadly, highest mortality rate, that's going to be your lower respiratory infections, like pneumonia. So I think that's pretty much all you have to know about these no-sacomial infections. It's your job and your clinical training to learn how to control these infections and hopefully keep them from happening. But that's what they are and that's how they came to be. All right. Have a wonderful day.