Prevention and Control of Nosocomial Infections

Here is a sampling of recent telephone calls I have received: "How long should my patient with methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureuspneumonia be isolated?" "Is it safe to replace an infected subclavian catheter over a guide wire?" "How do I interpret this report of a coagulase-negative staph in a blood culture?" Questions aboutCandidain a urinary tract culture, communicability of herpes zoster, and what antibiotics should be prescribed for surgical wound infection "prophylaxis" are almost daily occurrences and highlight the importance of nosocomial, or hospital-acquired, infections. This revised edition ofPrevention and Control of Nosocomial Infectionsis now available to guide the reader through a broad field of knowledge that is enlarging at breakneck speed. The key word for this work is practicality. It is apparent that editor Wenzel has admonished the expert contributors to build upon a nucleus of key information dealing with nearly all aspects of infectious diseases