ABSTRACT
Nosocomial infections are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. They should not, however, be considered as an inevitable tribute to pay to the continuous progress in medicine, considering in particular the sophisticated diagnostic and management strategies applied to the care of complex diseases. The extent of the problem was recently highlighted in the general medical literature in the late 1990s, following a publication by the Institute of Medicine in Washington, DC. In brief, this report estimated that preventable adverse events in the United States, including nosocomial infections, were responsible for 44,000 to 98,000 deaths annually and represent a cost of $17 to $29 billion (1). Mostly based on
MD: SEIFERT, JOB: 04392,
extrapolation from two studies only, this report has generated a considerable debate in the scientific community (2-9). Comparable data were published in the United Kingdom by the House of Commons in November 2000 (10). This official government report estimated that at least 100,000 infections are acquired in hospitals in England each year. These infections may be responsible for at least 5,000 deaths annually, with cost estimates as high as $1.8 billion (11).
