Infection Health Article

Infection control

In the brochure "An Ounce of Prevention: Keeps the Germs Away," (2000) the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified some simple and inexpensive means of preventing the spread of infectious diseases. These include:

• Wash hands frequently.
• Clean and disinfect.
• Handle and prepare foods safely.
• Get immunized.
• Do not take unnecessary antibiotics (e.g., for viral infections).
• Keep pets healthy.
• Avoid contact with wild animals.

BOOKS

Murray, P.R., K.S. Rosenthal, G.S. Kobayashi, and M.A. Pfaller. Medical Microbiology. St. Louis, MO: Mosby, Inc., 1998.

Nicklin, J., K. Graeme-Cook, T. Paget, and R. Killington. "Bacteria and their environment." In Instant Notes in Microbiology. Oxford, UK: BIOS Scientific Publishers, Inc., 1999, pp.161-71.

PERIODICALS

Delves, P.J., and I.M. Roitt. "The Immune System: First of two parts." New England Journal of Medicine (July 6,2000): 27-49.

Delves, P.J., and I.M. Roitt. "The Immune System: Second of two parts." New England Journal of Medicine (July 13, 2000): 108-17.

Huston, David. "The Biology of the Immune System." Journal of the American Medical Association (December 1997): 1804-14.

ORGANIZATIONS

National Center for Infectious Diseases. Mailstop C-14, 1600 Clifton Road, Atlanta, GA 30333. <http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/>.

OTHER

"Biology of Infectious Disease." In The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy, on-line. 2001. Merck & Co., Inc. <http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section13/chapter150/150a.htm>.

Stephanie Islane Dionne