Review Questions

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1. Discuss the contributions of Hippcrates, Lister, Holmes, Pasteur, and Semmelweis to the prevention of infectious disease.
Click Here to check your answer. The following people contributed to the prevention of infectious disease.

Hippcrates discovered that treating wounds with coal tar was effective in controlling infection. Centuries later, it was revealled that coal tar contains carbolic acid, which is still used today as an antiseptic and disinfectant.
Joseph Lister discovered how to use chemical antiseptics to control surgery-related infections caused by microorganisms.
Louis Pasteur performed scientific experiments that led to the conclusion that microorganisms, which he called germs, cause particular types of fermentation in certain liquids.
Oliver Wendell Holmes concluded that puerperal fever (a disease that was, at the time, responsible for the deaths of many women in childbirth) was carried from patient to patient by their doctors.
Ignaz Semmelweis drew the same conclusions as Holmes and had the students on his hospital ward scrub their hands with a chlorinated solution between the treatments of patients.

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2. Identify the five parts of the cycle of infection.

Click Here to check your answer. The parts of the cycle of infection are as follows.

(Page 11) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 3. Explain the difference between medical and surgical asepsis.
Click Here to check your answer. Medical asepsis is based on maintaining cleanliness to prevent the spread microorganisms by reducing the numbers of microorgansims in the medical environment.

Surgical asepsis depends on a completely sterile environment that eliminates all microorganisms. (Pages 26-31) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 4. List and discuss the three levels of infection control.
Click Here to check your answer. The three levels of infection control are sanitization, disinfection, and sterilization.

Sanitization involves cleaning and scrubbing instruments and equipment by washing with detergents. Sanitization eliminates contaminated materials and some microorganisms from surfaces. It is most often the first procedure necessary for preparing instruments for the next two levels of infection control: disinfection and sterilization.
Disinfection is applied to instruments and equipment that come into contact with intact mucous membranes and other non-sterile surfaces. Disinfection kills many, but not all, microorganisms.
Sterilization completely destroys all microorganisms from the surface of instruments and equipment. It is required for all instruments that penetrate the skin or that come into contact with sterile areas of the body.

(Pages 27-32) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 5. While a patient is in the examination room, you notice that her friend, who is sitting in the waiting area, seems to be in pain. The friend is holding her hand against one side of her face. You notice that both sides of her face near her ears appear swollen. What, if anything, should you do?
Click Here to check your answer. If you witness a patient (or in this case, a patient��s friend) exhibiting the described symptoms, you should first politely inquire about her symptoms and explain that she is displaying some of the signs of mumps, a contagious viral infection. Ask her to move away from the other patients, and suggest that she be examined by a doctor in your office right away. If she is examined by a doctor and found to have mumps, you must report the case to the state or county health department. You should also alert her friend to the possibility of having been exposed to the mumps. (Page 42) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 6. Discuss five situations in which blood-borne pathogens may be transmitted.
Click Here to check your answer. The following examples are just some situations in which blood-borne pathogens can be transmitted.

Needlesticks from used needles
Blood transfusions with infected blood
Dental cleanings that can include blood in saliva
Transmission of a pathogen from an infected mother to her fetus
Unprotected sexual intercourse

(Pages 56-57) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 7. How are hepatitis A, B, and C spread? What makes hepatitis C so dangerous?
Click Here to check your answer. Hepatitis spreads in the following ways.

Hepatitis A is spread through the fecal-oral route by drinking contaminated water, eating contaminated food, and intimate contact with an infected person.
Hepatitis B is spread through contact with contaminated blood or body fluids and through sexual contact.
Hepatitis C is also spread through contact with contaminated blood or body fluids and through sexual contact.

Hepatitis C is so dangerous because carriers often experience no symptoms, and if symptoms do occur, they likely will resemble the flu. There is no cure for hepatitis C, which has resulted in more deaths than the combination of hepatitis A and B. (Pages 58-61) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 8. Discuss the three tests used to diagnose HIV infection and the confidentiality issues regarding test results.
Click Here to check your answer. The three tests used to diagnose HIV infection are the ELISA test, the Western blot test, and the IFA test. The ELISA test is used first to confirm the presence of antibodies. Because a false positive may occur, the other tests are used to confirm the presence of antibodies. The ELISA and Western blot tests can be run on oral body fluids as well as blood.

In all cases involving testing for HIV, you must follow measures to ensure protection of the patient��s confidentiality. Knowledge about a patient��s test results should be limited to those who will be treating the patient and appropriate authorities as required by law. The patient��s decision on whether or not to reveal test results to family and friends should be respected at all times. (Page 62-64) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 9. List the three types of exposure that can lead to the spread of disease and ways that each might occur.
Click Here to check your answer. The three types of exposure that can lead to the spread of disease are inhalation (breathing), ingestion (swallowing), and transcutaneous absorption (through a cut or crack in the skin). Diseases can be spread through inhalation simply by breathing the same air as the infected person. The process of spreading diseases through ingestion can occur when, for example, a person drinks out of the same glass that another person carrying a disease recently drank from. Finally, a cold might be spread if a carrier sneezes in his hand and touches a doorknob, which is in turn touched by a person with a cut on his hand (transcutaneous absorption). (Page 86) Did your answer match up with the correct answer? If not, click here to try again. 10. According to Table 4-1 (p. 89), what are the general guidelines for cleaning a stethoscope, a nasal speculum, and a syringe?
Click Here to check your answer. The general guidelines for cleaning various instruments are given below.

To clean a stethoscope, you must sanitize it by using a detergent or a solution suggested by the manufacturer. However, you must disinfect it if it becomes contaminated with blood or body fluids.
To disinfect a nasal speculum, you must use an EPA-approved chemical or a 10% bleach solution to destroy microorganisms outside the body. This procedure applies to all instruments that come into contact with intact mucous membranes, but do not penetrate the patient��s body surfaces.
A syringe must be sterilized using an autoclave or other approved method to completely destroy all microorganisms. Sterilization must be administered to instruments that penetrate the skin or contact otherwise sterile areas of the body.

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Medical Office Management II Note on Medical Office Management II Study Notes, created by owner on 06/07/2013.

Medical Office Management II Study Notes