ABSTRACT
Richard PD Cooke, Michael A Cooper, Adam Fraise, Alison Hames, Peter Hoffman, Julie Hughes, Manjusha Narayanan, Muhammad Raza, Eric W Taylor, Michael J Weinbren
Healthcare-associated infections are a major problem in paediatric populations (Raymond and Aujard, 2000). Many children are admitted to hospital with (or incubating) community-acquired infections, some of which (e.g. respiratory virus infections, severe gastroenteritis and infected skin lesions) are difficult to control and may spread rapidly. Children are also more susceptible than adults to community-acquired diseases, as many of them have not developed immunity to the common infectious diseases. Furthermore, most children’s wards may contain patients who are particularly susceptible (e.g. those with blood disorders or receiving steroids). The increase in the use of invasive techniques is associated with more infections, including the emergence of coagulase-negative staphylococci as a significant pathogen. Patient discipline is understandably rather lax in children’s departments, and care must be taken to avoid the escape of children from isolation cubicles and misguided generosity in the sharing of toys, dummies, etc.
