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Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) pioneered the study of the link between irregularities in the immune system and neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism a decade ago. Since then, studies of postmortem brains and of individuals with autism, as well as epidemiological studies, have supported the correlation between alterations in the immune system and autism spectrum disorder.

According to an Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, there are 2 million healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) per year in the United States. We also know that 100,000 of these infected patients die. The problem with this picture is that HAIs are preventable and with proper attention, these lives could be saved. Hence, our focus as infection preventionists needs to be on infection prevention rather than infection control.

Her passport is stamped with exotic locations: Myanmar, Tibet, South Africa, Vietnam, and Cambodia, as well as Baltimore, MD. But, when Carrie Tudor, PhD, MPH, RN, looks at it, she sees global battlefields in the fight against infectious disease. Her weapons: immunizations, programs to curb tuberculosis and HIV transmission, and a drive to carry on a rich tradition of public health nursing research.

Infectious disease experts say we are on the brink of losing our last line of defense against pathogenic microorganisms -- antibiotics and other antimicrobials -- unless the healthcare industry and policy-makers significantly improve efforts to preserve these drugs' effectiveness through antimicrobial stewardship initiatives.

Kathy Aureden, MS,MT(ASCP) SI,CIC, epidemiology coordinator at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, Ill., shares her perspectives on the controversial topic of screening and how to make sense of infection data.