Healthcare-Associated Infections: The Role of Microbial and Environmental Factors in Infection Control-A Narrative...

Area of Science:

• Infectious Diseases
• Microbiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) prolong hospital stays and antimicrobial therapy.
• HAIs significantly contribute to the rise of antibiotic resistance (AR), complicating treatments and endangering patients and staff.
• Accurate and timely diagnosis of HAIs is essential for effective infection prevention and control (IPC) and developing new therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the prevalence, risk factors, and current diagnostic methods for HAIs.
• To explore emerging therapeutic strategies, including phage therapy, microbiome interventions, and vaccination.
• To discuss HAI surveillance, the link between AR, climate change, and environmental pollution under the One Health approach, and the role of artificial intelligence (AI).

Main Methods:

• Literature review of HAIs, AR, diagnostic tools, and novel treatment strategies.
• Analysis of AI and machine learning applications in HAI diagnosis and prediction.
• Examination of the One Health approach concerning AR, climate change, and pollution.

Main Results:

• Phage therapy presents a promising alternative to antibiotics for resistant bacteria.
• Microbiome-based interventions, like fecal microbiota transplantation and probiotics, show efficacy against specific HAIs.
• AI and machine learning offer predictive capabilities but require data integration.

Conclusions:

• HAIs remain a significant global challenge demanding stringent IPC policies and advanced tools like AI.
• Promising future directions include integrated One Health approaches, optimized phage therapy, microbiome interventions, and targeted vaccines.
• Further research is needed to address knowledge gaps in clinical efficacy, standardization, and pathogen complexity.