Occult nosocomial infections.
Even with a good surveillance program, nosocomial infections may be not recognized because of several reasons: absence of symptoms or prolonged incubation period (eg, viral bloodborne infections, tuberculosis); problems with the microbiological diagnosis, because adequate specimens may be difficult to obtain or special methods should be used (eg, fungal infections, virus, new agents); shorter hospital stays (eg, surgical-site infections); difficulty in distinguishing between nosocomial and community-acquired infections (eg, influenza); and failure to detect clinically relevant colonization (eg, multiresistant microorganisms). Because of the important potential consequences of occult nosocomial infections, specific surveillance programs should be designed to address these problems.
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Division autonome de médecine préventive hospitalière, Lausanne, Switzerland.
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D002353:Carrier State; D016358:Contact Tracing; D003428:Cross Infection / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000635:transmission; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000592:standards; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D017053:Infection Control / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests / Q000592:standards; D011159:Population Surveillance; D017735:Virus Latency