Healthcare Associated Infections & Infection Control
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) defines healthcare associated infections (HAI) as
infections that patients acquire during the course of
receiving treatment for other conditions within a
healthcare setting. This term, sometimes used
synonymously with the term hospital-acquired infections,
has largely replaced the word "nosocomial", which was
limited to infections occurring in hospitals only.
HAI are frequently caused by organisms that have
acquired antimicrobial resistance and is a major problem
worldwide. Of greatest concern are drug resistant
bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus (MRSA), vancomycin resistant enterococci
(VRE), Clostridium difficile and Carbapenum-Resistant
Klebsiella Pneumoniae (CRKP).
Infection control in health care settings is important to reduce transmission of
HAI between patients and health care workers. The single most
important measure to reduce infections is proper handwashing (or the use of disinfectant
alcohol solutions) for health care workers. Patient-centered strategies for effective
infection control include isolation precautions to the spread of infectious agents and
use of protective barriers (gloves, gowns, masks). Healthcare worker-centered strategies
include handwashing, regular infection control education, use of protective barriers,
work restrictions for exposed or infected workers, and immunizations for vaccine-preventable
diseases. Environmental cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization
are also an important part of
infection control.
Additional infection control measures recommended by the
CDC include collaborating with the infection control
department in monitoring and investigating potentially
harmful infectious exposures and outbreaks among
patients and personnel and maintenance and
confidentiality of patient and personnel health records. Infection control is not limited to outbreak
investigation, but is continual surveillance to look for
rising trends in HAI and ongoing
reinforcement of education.
Healthcare-Associated Outbreaks General Acute Care
Hospitals: 2010 Summary Los Angeles County
Healthcare-Associated Outbreaks Sub-Acute Facilities:
2010 Summary Los Angeles County
Infection Control Resources
Program Websites
Guidelines
Antibiotic Resistance / Special Project
Surveillance System
Infection Control/Infectious Disease Organizations
The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Association for
Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) are national,
non-governmental organizations dedicated to infection control in healthcare facilities.
They both publish regular journals (American Journal of Infection Control and Infection
Control and Hospital Epidemiology, respectively) that have papers on outbreak investigations,
policy statements, etc. Additionally, both provide current news and training courses on
infection control issues.
Resources
