Individuals at Risk
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a pathogenic pathogen of infectious diseases, which are considered to be the leading nosocomial infections. This means that the predominant lesions of the organisms occur in the clinical environment. From what has been said, one obvious conclusion can be drawn — the leading vulnerable group are inpatients who are in hospitals for long-term treatment of problems not necessarily related to Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
This includes, for example, any patients with cardiovascular, genitourinary, or respiratory pathologies for whom a clinical stay is essential (CDC, 2019). The use of topical inhalers, catheters, and any other instruments of physical intervention for the integrity of the body becomes a key risk factor for these patients. Then, due to a lack of proper sanitation and hygiene, the likelihood of them being exposed to the pathogen increases. In addition, patients with open wounds, stitches, and chemical burns are particularly vulnerable because of the presence of an open focus of infection.
Transmission Mechanism and Methods of Prevention
Pseudomonas aeruginosa lives in the environment, whether in air, fluids, clinical surfaces, or non-sterile instruments. Transmission occurs either from material to person or from person to person if hand or glove hygiene is not observed for medical interventions. Based on the above, it is evident that infection can be avoided through hygiene prevention. In particular, it includes antiseptic treatment of surfaces and hands, the use of plenty of decontaminating agents, such as iodine, and no contact of surgical instruments and hands with potentially dirty materials.
Clinical Symptoms and Progression of the Disease
If an infection has already occurred, it is critical to observe the dynamics in order to understand the stages of progression. However, an epidemiological feature of Pseudomonas aeruginosa is that the bacterium does not selectively infect; instead, its pathogenesis covers a broad spectrum. Depending on the localization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the infection can occur in the GI tract, urinary tract, blood, skin, and lungs. This results in different symptoms: in the case of skin lesions, there is peeling, redness, and purulent itching; in the case of the gastrointestinal tract, there is diarrhea and severe abdominal pain.
If the lungs are affected, the patient suffers from pneumonia and cough, and if the eyes are affected, there is pus-like discharge and inflammation (Bhargava, 2020). Thus, the symptomatic picture is individualized on a case-by-case basis. In addition, it is evident that Pseudomonas aeruginosa spreads through the body using increased host resources. Thus, if the initial focus of infection is the liver, the blood, heart, lungs, and even the brain may soon be affected.
Diagnostic Procedures
Diagnosing an infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a necessary step for inpatients if there is a risk of infection. The diagnostic procedure is standard: a blood sample is used from the patient for which identification tests are performed in the laboratory. This can be done with PCR testing, LAMP, PFGE, MLVA, or MLST: these are genomic category procedures, which means they use DNA or RNA fragments of the pathogen to pinpoint (Chen et al., 2018). One additional test that is nevertheless seen more as a laboratory training tool is the biochemical examinations of TSI, SIM, LIA, MR, urea, and citrate.
Clinical Treatment and Tissues Affected
If Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been diagnosed, the treating physician begins treatment procedures. The most definitive drug therapy is the administration of antibiotics, but this can be complicated for nosocomial infections since such strains tend to develop resistance to the drugs. It becomes necessary to study the sensitivity to a particular antibiotic when the efficacy of each of the existing antibiotics is evaluated for an isolated blood sample in order to find the best option (Vipin et al., 2020). In addition, it is not uncommon to use a combination of antibiotics to achieve a synergistic effect.
In this sense, it is essential to understand that antibiotic drugs are not necessarily used as pills, as there are also drip, ointment, and spray versions of medications. The use of a particular type depends on the localization of the pathogenic lesion. For example, if the tissues of the mucous membrane of the eye, nose, or oral cavity are affected, it will be correct to use ointments and drops. If the alveolar sacs of the lungs, the heart muscle, or the blood are affected, then sprays and pills may be the best treatment strategies. When the lesions touch the external borders of the body, that is, purulent inflammation of the skin and superficial wounds occur, then antibiotic ointments and creams are used.
Current Outbreaks
By now, humanity has developed strategies for dealing with Pseudomonas aeruginosa, but there are still epidemiological outbreaks. The CDC (2021) reports eight cases of the highly antibiotic-resistant bacterium in Mexican patients. Other than these cases, the CDC reports no cases of outbreaks, which means that only isolated, unscalable cases exist now. To put it another way, there is no severe epidemiological agenda for Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection right now, but that is no reason to relax efforts. On the contrary, the absence of infection shows that current sanitary measures are proving effective, so it is advisable not to weaken them.
References
Bhargava, H. D. (2020). Pseudomonas infection. WebMD. Web.
CDC. (2019). Pseudomonas aeruginosa in healthcare settings. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
CDC. (2021). Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Web.
Chen, J. W., Lau, Y. Y., Krishnan, T., Chan, K. G., & Chang, C. Y. (2018). Recent advances in molecular diagnosis of Pseudomonasaeruginosa infection by state-of-the-art genotyping techniques. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 1-10. Web.
Vipin, C., Saptami, K., Fida, F., Mujeeburahiman, M., Rao, S. S., Arun, A. B., & Rekha, P. D. (2020). Potential synergistic activity of quercetin with antibiotics against multidrug-resistant clinical strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. PloS One, 15(11), 1-10. Web.