[Prevention of infectious diseases : The role of infectious disease specialists]

Infectious diseases are among the most frequent diseases encountered in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Therefore, the prevention of infections is a central task for physicians across all medical specialties.

This article discusses various areas of prevention and highlights the pivotal role of infectious disease specialists.

Vaccines are among the most effective measures for disease prevention overall. They are used in primary as well as for secondary prevention; however, to achieve the preventive targets an improvement in the vaccination rates in Germany is urgently necessary. To increase vaccine utilization, improvements in the intersectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation of various medical disciplines are of major importance. For prevention of the further spread of antimicrobial resistance, antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) teams have successfully been established in hospitals and AMS should also increasingly play a role in outpatient care. Another major task of prevention is the avoidance of nosocomial infections.

The frequency as well as the medical and social impact of infectious diseases in healthcare clearly demonstrate the importance of prevention in this field. Improvements in provision of care are necessary at various levels with a focus on intersectoral and interdisciplinary cooperation of the medical disciplines. Infectious disease specialists should play a key role in coordinating these initiatives.