The control of hospital infection.

Sammelweis first introduced the concept of infection control in hospitals in the mid-1800s but i t was not until about 20 years ago that the control of hospital infection has become such an important issue. In the United States, i t is estimated that approximately 5% of all hospital admissions acquire hospital infection.' The financial expense related to the management of these infections is estimated to be in the region of US$3,000,000,000 per annum.' In the United States today, a l l hospitals are required to have infection control programmes by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals. The control of hospital infection may be uiscussed under the following topics: (1) architectural design; (2) surveillance; (3) sterilisation and disinfection; (4) ward procedures; (5) isolation; (6) antibiotics and (7) prophylaxis.