Tracing and Preventing Infections

A total of 10–20% of somatic patients experience hospital infections during/after hospitalization. Pneumonia, sepsis, surgical site infections and urinary tract infections are most often associated with patient-related use of medical devices for approximately 65% of cases, while nontechnical equipment may be linked to 35% of cases. It is resource-intensive to detect the cause of infection outbreaks and even more expensive not to take action. Unexplained causes of outbreaks may lead to uncertainty and reduced activity at the hospital. To trace and prevent hospital outbreaks, joint efforts from hospital management, microbiology and infection control are needed. This chapter is focused on practical measures to trace and prevent hospital outbreaks.