Why should the surgical community be interested in the global burden of healthcare associated infections and infection prevention and control? (25 September 2024)

Summary

Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) is considered to be a practical, evidence-based approach to prevent avoidable infections in healthcare settings, including those caused by antimicrobial resistant germs.

In this blog, Claire Kilpatrick highlights a review article published in 2020. It outlines the approaches to prevention of surgical site infections (SSI) and adds new information on the world of global IPC, including recently launched initiatives that might impact on and support the surgical community. It also summarises some of the resources to implement the World Health Organization’s (WHO) SSI prevention guidelines. The founding member of WSIS, Joseph Solomkin, was chair of and played a key influencing role in this guideline evidence.