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Outbreak Investigations

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Consuelo Beck-Sague ,
William R. Jarvis  and
William J. Martone
Consuelo Beck-Sague
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
William R. Jarvis
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
William J. Martone
Affiliation:
Hospital Infections Program, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
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Abstract

Epidemic nosocomial infections are defined as hospital-acquired infections that represent an increase in incidence over expected rates. Epidemic-associated infections usually are clustered temporally or geographically, suggesting that the infections are from a common source or are secondary to increased person-to-person transmission. Epidemics are important, because they account for a substantial percentage of nosocomial infections. Furthermore, if infection control personnel thoroughly investigate outbreaks of nosocomial infections, they may identify new agents, reservoirs, or modes of transmission.

Type
Practical Healthcare Epidemiology
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 18 , Issue 2 , February 1997 , pp. 138 - 145
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1997

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