Prevention and Control of Nosocomial Infections

Section 1 Perspectives: the control of infections in hospitals - 1750-1950; cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis in infection control; the modern infection control practitioner; heath care reform and the hospital epidemiologist in the US. Section 2 Management: regulatory, accreditation, and professional agencies; influencing infection control programs; controversies in isolation policies and practices; organizing for infection control with limited resources; microbiology: the role of the clinical laboratory; health psychology. Section 3 Epidemiology methods: surveillance, reporting and use of computers; what to do about high endemic rates of infection; epidemics: identification and management; design and analytical issues in studies of infectious diseases; statistics in infection control studies. Section 4 Special locations: outpatient/out of hospital care issues; infection contra issues in same-day surgery; extended care facilities. Section 5 Special problems: the threat of antibiotic resistance; optimal use of antibiotics; multidrug resistant enterococci and the threat of vancomycin-resistant staphylococcus aurous; epidemiology of nosocomial tuberculosis. Section 6 Protecting employees: protecting employees from injury and infection; management of exposures to infections. Section 7 Environmental issues: hospital environment for high-risk patients; environment issues and nosocomial infections; the operating theatre: a special environment area; disinfection, sterilization and waste disposal; the hospital and pollution: role of the hospital epidemiologist in protecting the environment; laboratory-acquired infections; infectious biohazards associated with laboratory animal research; nosocomial infections related to patient care support. Section 8 Preventing specific infections: handwashing, hand disinfestation, and skin disinfestation; nosocomial blood stream infections; IV-related infections; nosocomial pneumonia; urinary tract infections; surgical infections including burns; perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis; infection in implantable prosthetic devices; nosocomial gastrointestinal infections; uncommon infections of the eye; prevention and control of nosocomial infections in obstetrics and gynaecology. Section 9 Special patients: infection in the newborn; the paediatric patient; the elderly; solid-organ transplant patients; bone marrow transplant patients; the AIDS patient; protecting recipients from blood and blood products.