Nosocomial infection represents an important public health problem indeveloping countries as in developed ones. Economic concerns have takenon increasing importance in infection control since the mid 1970s inthe USA, however there are few papers on the economics of NI in othercountries. Studies on the costs of NI have used different methods,definitions and degrees of stringency when calculating indirect costsand there is therefore still uncertainty over their true economicimpact on the community and on the workplace economy. Drug andespecially antibiotic acquisition in addition to increased length ofstay are the widely and well described parameters. Extra cost of NIinclude; bed, intensive care unit stay, hematological, biochemical,microbiological and radiological tests, antibiotics, other drugs, extrasurgical procedures and working hours. In addition to high morbidityand mortality one of the well described parameters is the extra lengthof stay in the hospital. High mortality rates and economic expensewhich NI represents emphasizes the justification for measures ofcontrol of this entity. To estimate better the current personnel andfinancial resources necessary to support infection control activitiesand to prevent NI, it is imperative that those conducting studies ofhospital epidemiology and healthcare outcomes research determine thesecurrent costs.
