Category Infectious Disease
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Antimicrobial Stewardship

Antimicrobial Stewardship is defined as ‘an ongoing effort by a health-care institution to optimise antimicrobial use among hospital patients in order to improve patient outcomes, ensure cost-effective therapy and reduce adverse sequelae of antimicrobial use (including antimicrobial resistance)’
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Aspergillosis

Aspergillosis: fungal disease caused by the mold Aspergillus, ranging from hypersensitivity to invasive infection. Important species include Aspergillus fumigatus, niger, flavus, calavtus; transmission by inhalation; high mortality
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Bacterial Meningitis

Bacterial meningitis = pyogenic infection of the cerebral ventricles and subarachnoid space -> CSF; usually confined to meninges (although in neonates and adults with Listeria monocytogenes -> cerebritis, encephalitis and abscesses can form)
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Candidiasis

Diagnosis and treatment of candidiasis is a contentious issue; invasive candidiasis is difficult to diagnose; >150 species of Candida (a yeast), few are pathogens
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Cholera

Cholera: Gastrointestinal infection caused by vibrio cholerae (Gram negative rod); transmission through consumption of contaminated drinking water or food
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Cryptococcosis

Cryptococcosis is a fungal infection caused by two different yeast species, that usually manifests as meningitis or pneumonia; cryptococcus neoformans meningitis is an AIDS defining illness
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Definitions in Infectious Diseases

DEFINITIONS Bacteria = single celled prokaryotic organism. Eukaryote = organism that possess a cell nucleus and other organelles. Fungi = eukaryotic organisms that absorb their food from other living or dead organisms. Parasite = an organism that grows, feeds, and…
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Ebola virus

Ebola virus is an extremely infectious and highly pathogenic virus of primates that causes Ebola virus disease; the term Ebola haemorrhagic fever is no longer used by WHO as haemorrhage is not a consistent feature of the disease; the first cases were identified in 1976 in the Congo (near the Ebola River) and in Sudan
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Handwashing in ICU

Handwashing in ICU: nosocomial infection associated with -> increased health costs -> increased morbidity and mortality
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Hand Hygiene

Hand hygiene is endorsed by the WHO as the single most important element of strategies to preventing healthcare associated infection (HAI). It is the responsibility of every healthcare worker
CCC Critical Care compendium 340

Healthcare Associated Infections

Healthcare associated infections (HAIs) are infections acquired in healthcare facilities and infections that occur as a result of healthcare interventions, which may manifest after people leave the healthcare facility