Risk Management and Healthcare Policy (Sep 2020)

Strategies to Prevent Healthcare-Associated Infections: A Narrative Overview

  • Haque M,
  • McKimm J,
  • Sartelli M,
  • Dhingra S,
  • Labricciosa FM,
  • Islam S,
  • Jahan D,
  • Nusrat T,
  • Chowdhury TS,
  • Coccolini F,
  • Iskandar K,
  • Catena F,
  • Charan J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 13
pp. 1765 – 1780

Abstract

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Mainul Haque,1 Judy McKimm,2 Massimo Sartelli,3 Sameer Dhingra,4 Francesco M Labricciosa,5 Salequl Islam,6 Dilshad Jahan,7 Tanzina Nusrat,8 Tajkera Sultana Chowdhury,9 Federico Coccolini,10 Katia Iskandar,11 Fausto Catena,12 Jaykaran Charan13 1Faculty of Medicine and Defence Health, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (National Defence University of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; 2Medical Education, Swansea University School of Medicine, Grove Building, Swansea University, Swansea, Wales SA2 8PP, UK; 3Department of General and Emergency Surgery, Macerata Hospital, Macerata, Italy; 4School of Pharmacy, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Eric Williams Medical Sciences Complex, Uriah Butler Highway, Trinidad & Tobago, West Indies; 5Global Alliance for Infections in Surgery, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal; 6Department of Microbiology, Jahangirnagar University, Savar, Dhaka 1342, Bangladesh; 7Department of Hematology, Asgar Ali Hospital, Dhaka 1204, Bangladesh; 8Department of Microbiology, Chittagong Medical College, Chattogram 4203, Bangladesh; 9Department of Urology, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital, Dhaka 1207, Bangladesh; 10Department of General Emergency and Trauma Surgery, Pisa University Hospital, Pisa, Italy; 11School of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon; 12Department of Emergency Surgery, Parma Maggiore Hospital, Parma, Italy; 13Department of Pharmacology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, IndiaCorrespondence: Mainul HaqueUnit of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine and Defence Health, Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia (National Defence University of Malaysia), Kem Perdana Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur 57000, MalaysiaTel +60 10 926 5543Email [email protected]: Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are a major source of morbidity and mortality and are the second most prevalent cause of death. Furthermore, it has been reported that for every one-hundred patients admitted to hospital, seven patients in high-income economies and ten in emerging and low-income economies acquire at least one type of HCAI. Currently, almost all pathogenic microorganisms have developed antimicrobial resistance, and few new antimicrobials are being developed and brought to market. The literature search for this narrative review was performed by searching bibliographic databases (including Google Scholar and PubMed) using the search terms: “Strategies,” “Prevention,” and “Healthcare-Associated Infections,” followed by snowballing references cited by critical articles. We found that although hand hygiene is a centuries-old concept, it is still the primary strategy used around the world to prevent HCAIs. It forms one of a bundle of approaches used to clean and maintain a safe hospital environment and to stop the transmission of contagious and infectious microorganisms, including multidrug-resistant microbes. Finally, antibiotic stewardship also has a crucial role in reducing the impact of HCAIs through conserving currently available antimicrobials.Keywords: prevention, hand hygiene, environmental hygiene, surveillance, antibiotic stewardship

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