title: [Role of the hospital environment and equipment in the transmission of nosocomial infections].
abstract: The hospital environment is both a reservoir and source of infection for the hospital patient. Several areas around the patient should be considered: air, toilet water coming into contact with the patient, staff and medical devices, food, surfaces, and instruments contacting the patient's skin and mucosa, and sterile solutions. There are pathogens classically associated with each mode of transmission and environmental reservoir, but multi-resistant microorganisms have also been recently been associated with environmental acquisition. Protocols are currently available for the prevention of some classic environmental pathogens, as well as recommendations for the prevention of contamination in some procedures. However, these situations do not cover all forms of transmission, and most investigations of reservoirs or environmental sources are restricted to outbreak situations.
authors: Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Enfermedades Infecciosas y Microbiología Clínica, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena, Sevilla, España. Electronic address: llopez@us.es.
authors: Lorena
authors: L
authors: López-Cerero
mesh_terms: D003428:Cross Infection / Q000635:transmission*; D004866:Equipment Contamination; D004865:Equipment and Supplies, Hospital / Q000382:microbiology*; D006272:Health Facility Environment; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans
keywords: Contaminación cruzada; Control ambiental; Cross-contamination; Environmental control; Hospital-acquired infection; Infección nosocomial