Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
The three first-line systemic agents used to control genital herpes infections are acyclovir, famciclovir and valacyclovir. These drugs inhibit viral DNA replication and are highly effective.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Penicillin decreases the effect of oral contraceptives. Hyperkalemia can result from concurrent use of potassium-sparing diuretics, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and potassium supplements with parenteral penicillin G.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Penicillins are bactericidal. They disrupt synthesis of the bacterial cell wall and bind to enzyme proteins, interfering with the biosynthesis of mucopeptides and preventing the structural components of the cell wall from leaking out.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Adults with primary or secondary syphilis should be treated with penicillin G benzathine (Bicillin). Other choices for unusual situations include doxycycline, tetracycline (Achromycin), ceftriaxone and erythromycin.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Definitive methods for diagnosing early syphilis include dark-field examination and direct fluorescent antibody study of the chancre’s exudate or tissue. The serologic tests used to confirm the syphilis diagnosis are nontreponemal and treponemal.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
A syphilis chancre erupts 3 weeks after exposure. Signs and symptoms of secondary syphilis are low-grade fever, malaise, sore throat, hoarseness, headache, anorexia, rash, mucocutaneous lesions, alopecia and adenopathy.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Syphilis is a chronic, infectious disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum. Infection may be active and characterized by symptoms, or inactive (latent). The latent stage has no clinical symptoms.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Gonococcal infection may be transmitted to infants exposed to infected cervical exudate at birth. Manifestations of the infection in newborns include ophthalmia neonatorum, which may result in perforation of the ocular globe and blindness.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Extensive clinical experience shows that ceftriaxone is safe and effective for treating uncomplicated gonorrhea at all sites, with a cure rate of 99.1% in clinical trials for uncomplicated urogenital and anorectal infections.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Gonorrhea is caused by N. gonorrhoeae, a gram-negative diplococcal bacterium. It is transmitted by sexual contact, and the rate of male-to-female transmission is higher than female-to-male or male-to-male.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
If compliance for the treatment of chlamydial infections is in question, azithromycin should be used for treatment because it is prepared as a single-dose drug. Doxycycline, however, has been used more extensively and is less expensive.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Azithromycin (Zithromax) and erythromycin (E-Mycin), macrolide antibiotics; doxycycline (Vibramycin), a tetracycline antibiotic; and ofloxacin (Floxin), a fluoroquinolone, are drugs of choice for chlamydial infections.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
The chlamydial infection may be silent. More than half of infected patients have no clinical signs or symptoms. In symptomatic women, the clinical presentation includes vaginal discharge, mucopurulent cervicitis with edema and friability.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Chlamydial organisms are like viruses in that they are obligate intracellular parasites. They resemble bacteria by containing both DNA and RNA, by dividing by binary fission and by having cell walls that resemble gram-negative bacteria.

Nursing Tip of the Day! - Infectious Diseases

Category: Infectious Diseases 
Chlamydial infection is caused by Chlamydia trachomatis, which shares properties of both bacteria and viruses. The organism is transmitted sexually or perinatally. Repeated infections are common.