Health Sciences, Medicine and Infection Control Essay

Health Sciences, Medicine and Infection Control - Essay Example Some of the diseases are highly contagious and can be spread by means of airborne transmission through very small droplets of infectious agents found in the air, food, or water. Infections that are contacted in hospitals or other healthcare facilities are known as nosocomial infections, and they lead to approximately 5 % of the patients in the hospitals (Mehrotra and Sumbali, 2009). These nosocomial infections are very common in some hospitals which do not have a strong immune system. This makes most of the patients in these facilities to be very susceptible to more infections. As a result, patients who visit hospitals end up spending more time in bed and may in some cases end up dying due to the infections they acquire while in the hospitals. The other reason why infectious diseases spread very fast in hospitals is the fact that some of the medical procedures performed to patients may predispose them to these infections (Barry et al, 2006). Some of the equipment used in these medical procedures as well as some of the drugs used may introduce infectious agents into the body of the patient. The infectious diseases can also be transmitted from one patient to another by the hospital workers and doctors or any other hospital visitors (Barry et al, 2006). By handling one patient who may be infected, the hospital workers can act as agents and transmit the same diseases to other patients in the hospital when they do not take necessary precautions. Therefore, there is the need to put in place infection control policies so as to help prevent the spread of nosocomial diseases (Hogg, 2013). This will also go a long way in making hospitals a better and safer place for patients as well as visitors. There is the need to have in place proper guidelines for infection control procedures in hospitals. Apart from hospitals infection control should also be practiced in clinics, nursing homes, restaurants and child care centers, as  well as in people’s homes.