• Richard A Murphy and Arlene C Chua.
• aDivision of Infectious Diseases, Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California, USA bDepartment of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore.
• Curr. Opin. Infect. Dis. 2016 Aug 1; 29 (4): 381-7.

Purpose Of ReviewHumanitarian medical organizations focus on vulnerable patients with increased risk for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and are obligated to minimize them in inpatient departments (IPDs). However, in doing so humanitarian groups face considerable obstacles. This report will focus on approaches to reducing common HAIs that the authors have found to be helpful in humanitarian settings.Recent FindingsHAIs are common in humanitarian contexts but there are few interventions or guidelines adapted for use in poor and conflict-affected settings to improve prevention and guide surveillance. Based on existing recommendations and studies, it appears prudent that all humanitarian IPDs introduce a basic infection prevention infrastructure, assure high adherence to hand hygiene with wide accessibility to alcohol-based hand rub, and develop pragmatic surveillance based on clinically evident nosocomial infection. Although microbiology remains out of reach for most humanitarian hospitals, rapid tests offer the possibility of improving the diagnosis of HAIs in humanitarian hospitals in the decade ahead.SummaryThere is a dearth of new studies that can direct efforts to prevent HAIs in IPDs in poor and conflict-affected areas and there is a need for practical, field-adapted guidelines from professional societies, and international bodies to guide infection prevention efforts in humanitarian environments.

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