Nosocomial infections (NI), also known as hospital acquired infection (HAI), is infection whose development is favoured by a hospital environment, such as one acquired by a patient during a hospital visit or one developing among hospital staff. Such infections include fungal and bacterial infections and are aggravated by the reduced resistance of individual patients. Nosocomial infections continues to be of major clinical and epidemiologic importance in developing countries as it constitutes a major source of morbidity, mortality and significant incremental health care expense for the hospitalized patient, despite major advances in clinical sciences. As per the Study on the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) routine surveillance of NI has become an integral part of infection control and quality assurance in US hospitals because it's potential of reducing nosocomial infections. Studies performed in the United States have demonstrated that an integrated infection control program that includes targeted device-associated surveillance can reduce the incidence of nosocomial infection by as much as 30% and lead to reduced health care costs.
Key words: Nosocomial Infections
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