Infection control practices in patients with hematological malignancies and multidrug-resistant organisms: special considerations and challenges

Abstract

Infectious complications contribute greatly to morbidity and mortality in patients with hematological malignancies. As these patients undergo prolonged chemotherapy and are in frequent contact with health care settings, they are at high risk for nosocomial and health care-associated infections. This long-term relationship with the hospital setting represents a major opportunity for infection prevention. In this review, we describe several infection control strategies that are currently used to reduce the transmission of hospital-acquired infections in patients with hematological malignancies, particularly infections with multidrug-resistant organisms.

Keywords: Health-care associated infections; Hematological malignancies; Infection control; Multidrug-resistant organisms; prevention.