Universal standard precautions for all Healthcare care workers and Transmission based precautions for infectious patients should strictly follow to combat infections in ICU@Fatemeh Fereydouni

Nursing care guidelines and protocols are generally irrelevant in preventing and controlling sepsis and other forms of bacterial infestation. The key to preventing and treating bacterial infections and sepsis is hypercarbia, which enhances the release of oxygen from hemoglobin in blood into surrounding tissues, and elevates the partial pressure of oxygen in tissues throughout the body. Oxygen toxicity kills most bacteria immediately in the human body. Most bacterial infestations are caused by a small number of “facultative anaerobes” that can tolerate small concentrations of oxygen, and even these usually cannot survive in the presence of normal oxygen levels in the body. Even these will be killed if oxygen levels are elevated above normal in the body. 100 years ago Dr. George Washington Crile cured lethal sepsis and peritonitis using massive doses of intramuscular morphine during an era when primitive needle technology prevented intravenous access. He kept patients comatose for a week with no food or water using morphine dosage that lowered respiratory rates to between 8-12 breaths per minute. This caused CO2 accumulation within the body that elevated the partial pressure of oxygen in tissues above normal, and eradicated the offending bacteria. In contrast, hyperventilation is inherently harmful and dangerous because it confers no benefits and inhibits the release of oxygen from blood into tissues.