ACCOMMODATION MANAGEMENT

2.4. Stating Common Infections in housekeeping

Common infections that could be spread by incorrect hygiene practices include:
Influenza(cold)
Influenza, commonly called "the flu," is an illness caused by RNA viruses that infect the respiratory tract of many animals, birds, and humans. In most people, the infection results in the person getting fever, cough, headache, and malaise (tired, no energy); some people also may develop a sore throat, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. The majority of individuals have symptoms for about one to two weeks and then recover with no problems. However, compared with most other viral respiratory infections, such as the common cold, influenza (flu) infection can cause a more severe illness with a mortality rate (death rate) of about 0.1% of people who are infected with the virus.
What are flu symptoms?
Typical clinical features of influenza include:
 fever (usually 100 F-103 F in adults and often even higher in children),
 respiratory symptoms such as:
o cough,
o sore throat,
o runny or stuffy nose,
o headache,
o muscle aches, and
o fatigue, sometimes extreme.
Rotavirus
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Rotavirus is a virus that infects the bowels. It is the most common cause of severe diarrhoea among infants and children throughout the world and causes the death of about 600,000 children worldwide annually. The name rotavirus comes from the characteristic wheel-like appearance of the virus when viewed by electron microscopy (the name rotavirus is derived from the Latin rota, meaning "wheel").
The time period from initial infection to symptoms (incubation period) for rotavirus disease is around two days. Symptoms of the disease include fever, vomiting, and watery diarrhea. Abdominal pain may also occur, and infected children may have profuse watery diarrhea up to several times per day.
Symptoms generally persist for three to nine days. Immunity from repeated infection is incomplete after a rotavirus infection, but repeated infections tend to be less severe than the original infection.
Rotavirus infection can be associated with severe dehydration in infants and children. Severe dehydration can lead to death in rare cases, so it is important to recognize and treat this complication of rotavirus infection. In addition to the symptoms of rotavirus infection discussed above, parents should be aware of the symptoms of dehydration that can occur with rotavirus infection or with other serious conditions
How is rotavirus spread?
Rotavirus infection is highly contagious. The primary mode of transmission of rotavirus is the passage of the virus in stool to the mouth of another child. This is known as a fecal-oral route of transmission. Children can transmit the virus when they forget to wash their hands before eating or after using the toilet. Touching a surface that has been contaminated with rotavirus and then touching the mouth area can result in infection.
There also have been cases of low levels of rotavirus in respiratory-tract secretions and other body fluids. Because the virus is stable (remains infective) in the environment, transmission can occur through ingestion of contaminated water or food and contact with contaminated surfaces. Rotavirus can survive for days on hard and dry surfaces, and it can live for hours on human hands.
Norovirus
Noroviruses are a group of viruses that cause the "stomach flu," or gastroenteritis in people. The term norovirus was recently approved as the official name for this group of viruses. Several other names have been used for noroviruses, including:
 Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs)
 caliciviruses (because they belong to the virus family Caliciviridae)
 small round structured viruses.
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Viruses are very different from bacteria and parasites, some of which can cause illnesses similar to norovirus infection. Like all viral infections, noroviruses are not affected by treatment with antibiotics, and cannot grow outside of a person's body.
What are the symptoms of illness caused by noroviruses?
Norovirus infection usually starts suddenly. The infected person often feels very sick with nausea and vomiting and watery non-bloody diarrhea with stomach cramps. Vomiting is more common in children than adults. Sometimes there is a low-grade fever. There may also be chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness.
What is the name of the illness caused by noroviruses?
 Illness caused by norovirus infection has several names, including:
 stomach flu—this "stomach flu" is not related to the flu (or influenza), which is a respiratory illness caused by influenza virus.
 viral gastroenteritis—the most common name for illness caused by norovirus. Gastroenteritis refers to an inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
 acute gastroenteritis
 non-bacterial gastroenteritis
 food poisoning (although there are other causes of food poisoning)
 calicivirus infection
Diphtheria
Diphtheria is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Corynebacterium diphtheriae. This disease primarily affects the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract (respiratory diphtheria), although it may also affect the skin (cutaneous diphtheria) and lining tissues in the ear, eye, and the genital areas.
How is diphtheria transmitted?
Diphtheria is transmitted to close contacts via airborne respiratory droplets or by direct contact with nasopharyngeal secretions or skin lesions. Rarely, it can be spread by objects contaminated by an infected person. Overcrowding and poor living conditions can further contribute to the spread of diphtheria.
Humans are the only known reservoir of Corynebacterium diphtheriae. Infected individuals may develop symptoms of diphtheria, or they may become carriers of the bacteria with no symptoms (asymptomatic carriers). These asymptomatic carriers can serve as reservoirs for active infection and may transmit the disease to other individuals.
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What are the signs and symptoms of diphtheria?
The symptoms of respiratory diphtheria usually begin after a two- to five-day incubation period. Symptoms of respiratory diphtheria may include the following:
 sore throat,
 fever,
 malaise,
 hoarseness,
 difficulty swallowing, or
 difficulty breathing.
E. coli
What is E. coli?
Escherichia coli (E. coli) is a bacterium that commonly lives in the intestines of people and animals. There are many strains (types) of E. coli.
Most of the E. coli are normal inhabitants of the small intestine and colon and are non-pathogenic, meaning they do not cause disease in the intestines. Nevertheless, these non-pathogenic E. coli can cause disease if they spread outside of the intestines, for example, into the urinary tract (where they cause bladder or kidney infections) or into the blood stream (sepsis).
Some strains of E. coli are pathogenic, meaning they can cause disease in the small intestine and colon. These pathogenic strains of E. coli may cause diarrhoea by producing and releasing toxins (called enterotoxigenic E. coli or ETEC) that cause the intestine to secrete fluid or by invading and inflaming the lining of the small intestine and the colon (called enteropathogenic E. coli or EPEC). A third strain
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of E. coli has a tendency to cause inflammation of the colon and bloody diarrhoea (called enterohemorrhagic E. coli or EHEC).
Hepatitis A
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver
When doctors speak of viral hepatitis, they usually are referring to hepatitis caused by a few specific viruses that primarily attack the liver. There are several hepatitis viruses; they have been named types A, B, C, D, E, F (not confirmed), and G.
The most common hepatitis viruses are types A, B, and C.
What are the symptoms and signs of viral hepatitis?
The period of time between exposure to hepatitis and the onset of the illness is called the incubation period. The incubation period varies depending on the specific hepatitis virus. Hepatitis A has an incubation period of about 15-45 days; hepatitis B from 45-160 days, and hepatitis C from 2 weeks to 6 months.
Many patients infected with hepatitis A, B, and C have few or no symptoms of illness. For those who do develop symptoms of viral hepatitis, the most common are flu- like symptoms including:
 loss of appetite
 nausea
 vomiting
 fever
 weakness
 tiredness
 aching in the abdomen Less common symptoms include:
 dark urine
 light-colored stools
 fever
 jaundice (a yellow appearance to the skin and white portion of the eyes)
Staphylococcus (staph infection)
Staphylococcus is a group of bacteria that can cause a multitude of diseases as a result of infection of various tissues of the body.
Over 30 different types of Staphylococci can infect humans, but most infections are caused
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by Staphylococcus aureus. Staphylococci can be found normally in the nose and on the skin (and less commonly in other locations) of 20%-30% of healthy adults. In the majority of cases, the bacteria do not cause disease. However, damage to the skin or other injury may allow the bacteria to overcome the natural protective mechanisms of the body, leading to infection.
What are the symptoms and signs of a Staph infection?
Staphylococcal disease of the skin usually results in a localized collection of pus, known as an abscess, boil, or furuncle. The affected area may be red, swollen, and painful. Drainage or pus is common.
Streptococcus
Group A streptococcal (strep) infections are caused by group A streptococcus, a bacterium responsible for a variety of health problems. These infections can range from a mild skin infection or sore throat to severe, life-threatening conditions such as toxic shock syndrome and necrotizing fascitis, commonly known as flesh eating disease. Most people are familiar with strep throat, which along with minor skin infection, is the most common form of the disease.
In addition to step throat and superficial skin infections, group A can cause infections in tissues (group of cells joined together to perform the same function) at specific body sites, including lungs, bones, spinal cord, and abdomen.