Critical review compares pathogen-specific and universal strategies for infection prevention and control, highlighting implications for local practices.
INTRODUCTION: transmission and infection. These interventions share an Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) foundation but differ in evidence, operational demands and the reservoirs they target. AREAS COVERED: This critical narrative review compares pathogen-targeted and universal (horizontal) strategies, including topical decolonization, antiseptic bathing, surveillance-linked containment, environmental/source control and antimicrobial stewardship. It examines study design, endpoint directness, diagnostic intensity, implementation fidelity, feasibility and local resource constraints. EXPERT OPINION: prevention generally requires universal IPC measures combined with targeted screening, placement, environmental control or emerging adjunctive decolonization according to local epidemiology and capacity.
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Abdelaziz Touati (2026) studied this question.
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