|
 
 |
| EDITORIAL |
|
| Year : 2014 | Volume
: 1
| Issue : 3 | Page : 133 |
|
Editorial
Aroma Oberoi
Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana - 141 008, Punjab, India
| Date of Web Publication | 17-Aug-2014 |
Correspondence Address:
Aroma Oberoi
Professor and Head, Department of Microbiology, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana - 141 008, Punjab
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2348-3334.138879
How to cite this article:
Oberoi A. Editorial
. CHRISMED J Health Res 2014;1:133 |
Health care associated infections (HAIs) represent one of the most common complications of care, affecting 5-10% of patients admitted to acute care hospitals worldwide. These HAIs are associated with enormous morbidity and mortality. Preventing infections requires the ability to detect them when they occur, which is why the clinical microbiology laboratory (CML) plays a key role in HAI prevention. Major surveillance challenges being faced by the CML include the continued emergence of novel infectious agents (e.g. H1N1 influenza virus) and novel antimicrobial resistant pathogens (e.g. VISA/VRSA/VRE), carbapenem resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE).
The third issue of CHRISMED Journal of Health and Research has many knowledgeable original articles in the area of infections and microbiology. Antibiotics have transformed the practice of medicine, making once lethal infections readily treatable and making other medical advances like cancer chemotherapy and organ transplants possible. The prompt initiation of antibiotics to treat infections has been proven to reduce morbidity and save lives but the misuse of antibiotics has also contributed to the growing problem of antibiotic resistance which has become one of the most serious and growing threats to public health.
Rickettsial infections, one of the re-emerging diseases are usually underdiagnosed due to nonspecific symptoms and absence of reliable and affordable diagnostic tests, and therefore contribute substantially to acute febrile burden leading to significant morbidity and mortality in many patients. The article by Udayan et al., has emphasized the need to use Weil Felix test in the diagnosis of rickettsial infections in the absence of reliable serological tests especially in a resource limited settings and to know the prevalence of this disease in a particular area.
This is a well-known fact that HIV infection is the strongest of all possible risk factors for the development of tuberculosis. Patil et al., in their study have assessed and compared the outcome of pulmonary tuberculosis in HIV seropositive and HIV seronegative patients. They strongly supported the strengthening of linkages between the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP) and National AIDS Control Program, which would contribute towards early case detection and early treatment of the two diseases, thereby significantly reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with HIV/TB co-infection.
The article by Shrivastava et al., has emphasized the 'rational drug' policy to minimize the misuse of antimicrobials and to control the emergence of multiple drug resistant (MDR), extensively drug resistant (XDR) and pandrug resistant (PDR) Pseudomonas aeruginosa in hospital environment. Kalidas and Amrita in their study have thrown light on upcoming issue of emerging resistance to β-lactam group of drugs by production of metallo-β lactamases among nonfermenters. They evaluated in vitro microbial efficacy of sulbactomax to save high end restricted antibiotics e.g., Tigecycline, Colistin and Polymyxin group.
Another article by Singh et al., has discussed the relevance of current knowledge of bacterial resistance profile as provided by microbiology laboratory in blood stream infections to initiate the empirical therapy in serious patients for the better treatment outcome and to control the problem of emerging drug resistance in the community as well as in hospital settings.
In conclusion, CML is an essential element of the Infection Prevention Program (IPP) in every health care facility, playing critical roles in surveillance, outbreak detection and management, antimicrobial stewardship, risk assessment, planning and education. Close collaboration between CML and IPP is required to ensure optimal HAI prevention.
|
Search Pubmed for