EURIDIKI, a backward glance – or: how theory and practice came together

The advent of intensive care medicine dates back some 40 years. The rising number of immunoincompetent patients who had to undergo intensive care treatment highlighted the need to focus on the serious problem of nosocomial infections. At that time not only did the majority of intensive care physicians have a lack of knowledge of the fundamentals of infectiology, but also there was also no behavioral guideline available. There were no recommendations available for infection prevention, or if they were they contradicted, in some cases to a considerable and confusing extent, existing guidelines. EURIDIKI, founded in 1979 by H.-J. Molitor in Vienna, was one of the first initiatives aimed at bringing together experts from the field of hospital hygiene and intensive care medicine. The declared goal was to formulate implementable behavioral rules for correct hygiene practices in intensive care units and to give doctors and nurses a sense of confidence when discharging their everyday duties. To assure effective prophylaxis against hospital infections, EURIDIKI believes that, based on its experiences, it is not only of clinical treatment principles that adequate knowledge is needed but also of the infection risks they pose. Doctors as well as assistant personnel must be conversant with disinfection and sterilization methods and indications. Likewise, experience is needed in diagnosis and differential diagnosis of infections, with associated immunological implications, microbiology, proper collection and transport of clinical samples (such as body secretions), including interpretation of microbiological and infection/immunological results. Of paramount importance is precise knowledge of antimicrobial chemotherapy, of dosages tailored to the respective case, of potential development of resistance and of other adverse side effects. On the other hand, the external infection control experts who are consulted by hospitals should be conversant with not only the priorities governing infection control rules, but must also know how to implement these. This means they must be familiar with the diagnostic and therapeutic principles and procedures underlying medical and nursing measures, bearing in mind the existing structural conditions and human resources availability.