Healthcare-related infections outside the hospital: a new frontier for infection control.

ABSTRACT

In all industrialized countries, an increasing number of persons are cared for outside the acute hospitals thus, infection control programs should be adapted to the new scenario. This paper briefly reviews the epidemiological features of infections acquired outside the acute care hospital, focusing on residential homes for the elderly. An intervention study aimed at reducing the healthcare associated infections in 22 residential facilities in Emilia-Romagna region is described.