Lessons from recent nosocomial epidemics

This review describes important examples of recent nosocomial infection epi demics. Current trends suggest that emerging problems in nosocomial infecti ons include increased nosocomial epidemics in out-of-hospital settings, con tamination of medical devices and products, and antimicrobial resistance. I ncreased attention should be focused on outbreak investigations in these ar eas. (C) 1999 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.