Infection Control in Intensive Care Units by Selective Decontamination

Download or read book Infection Control in Intensive Care Units by Selective Decontamination written by Hendrik K.F.van Saene and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 357 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Selective decontamination is a technique which combines short-term and long-term antimicrobials to prevent or treat the acquisition and subsequent carriage of microorganisms causing late colonization and infections. The antimicrobials are selective in that they leave the indigenous, mostly anaerobic flora more or less intact, whilst the effective decontamination provides a genuine breakthrough in the endogenous route of pathogenesis. The improvements in decontamination techniques presented here offer significant reduction in infection related morbidity and mortality among trauma patients.