Background The first publication of this review in Issue 3, 2005 included studies up to
November 2003. This update adds studies to December 2006 and focuses on application of …

The quality of research in hospital epidemiology (infection control) must be improved to be
robust enough to influence policy and practice. In order to raise the standards of research …

As the ultimate consumers, patients play an important role in the emergence, spread and
control of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Improved knowledge of antibiotics and the …

Background The relative importance of human diseases is conventionally assessed by
cause-specific mortality, morbidity, and economic impact. Current estimates for infections …

Objectives To assess the public's knowledge and attitudes to antibiotics, their reported
antibiotic use and the relationship between them. Patients and methods A questionnaire …

INTRODUCTION: Health-related retrospective databases, in particular claims databases,
continue to be an important data source for outcomes research. However, retrospective …

Antimicrobial resistance is threatening the successful management of nosocomial infections
worldwide. Despite the therapeutic limitations imposed by methicillin-resistant …

Although a third of the public still believe that antibiotics work against coughs and colds,
simply getting the public to believe otherwise may not be enough to reduce the level of …

Background. Point-prevalence surveys have been used to document antimicrobial use in
hospitals for> 20 years. However, published surveys are inconsistent with respect to …

Objectives Since electronic prescribing is limited to few hospitals, point prevalence surveys,
such as the standardized European Surveillance of Antimicrobial Consumption point …