Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2011 Jan;24(1):141-73.
doi: 10.1128/CMR.00027-10.

Hospital epidemiology and infection control in acute-care settings

Emily R M Sydnor  1 , Trish M Perl
Affiliations
Review

Hospital epidemiology and infection control in acute-care settings

Emily R M Sydnor et al. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

Health care-associated infections (HAIs) have become more common as medical care has grown more complex and patients have become more complicated. HAIs are associated with significant morbidity, mortality, and cost. Growing rates of HAIs alongside evidence suggesting that active surveillance and infection control practices can prevent HAIs led to the development of hospital epidemiology and infection control programs. The role for infection control programs has grown and continues to grow as rates of antimicrobial resistance rise and HAIs lead to increasing risks to patients and expanding health care costs. In this review, we summarize the history of the development of hospital epidemiology and infection control, common HAIs and the pathogens causing them, and the structure and role of a hospital epidemiology and infection control program.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Recommended infection control committee. ‡, physician and nursing leadership recommended.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Ahmad, K. 2007. Kazakhstan health workers stand trial for HIV outbreak. Lancet Infect. Dis. 7:311. - PubMed
    1. AIDS/TB Committee of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America. 1997. Management of healthcare workers infected with hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus, or other bloodborne pathogens. Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 18:349-363. - PubMed
    1. Albrecht, S. J., et al. 2006. Reemergence of Gram-negative health care-associated bloodstream infections. Arch. Intern. Med. 166:1289-1294. - PubMed
    1. Alter, H. J., et al. 1972. Posttransfusion hepatitis after exclusion of commercial and hepatitis-B antigen-positive donors. Ann. Intern. Med. 77:691-699. - PubMed
    1. Alter, M. J. 1994. Occupational exposure to hepatitis C virus: a dilemma. Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 15:742-744. - PubMed