EDITORIAL Infection Control: A Paradigm Shift

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) as infections caused by bac-teria, viruses or fungi that occur during the course of receiving medical care [1]. This is a rapidly evolving field with tremen-dous interest from the public, regulatory bodies and the policymakers alike. The overall annual direct medical costs of HAIs to US hospitals is estimated between 30 and 45 Billion US $ [2]. The majority of HAIs are preventable with adequate planning and follow up. The availability of the details of HAIs in the public domain has resulted in robust infection control measures by medical facilities across the US. The Medicare non-payment for HAIs has also bolstered the overall infection control efforts. In this issue, the reviews are a mix of traditional reviews, dynamic clinical experience and promising new technology. Porkywka and Byers focus on traffic in the operating room [3]. A topic that is well established as a risk for surgical site infec-tion (SSI) with little literature available. Yassin and Gupta review Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in hemodialysis (HD) units. [4] They summarize in detail the infection prevention measures from practical application perspective. Ferrelli and DiCuccio enumerate a successful strategy in promoting hand hygiene at an academic institution in a step-by-step fashion [5]. The experience with hand hygiene adherence exploring the implementation of novel strategy provides a different aspect of a commonly discussed topic. Clair and Colatrella present an excellent review of Infection control measures from the perspective of construction (new and maintenance of existing ones) in a healthcare setup [6]. Kandiah and colleagues review monochlora-mine use in prevention of Legionella in hospital water system [7]. This combines information on new technology and actua