Reasons for Writing This Book The published literature on the economic
appraisal of healthcare acquired infection (HAI) is described by phrases
such as: "With so many virtues of the cost-benefit approach identified,
it is perhaps puzzling why greater use of economic appraisal has not
been made in the area of infection control" [1] "Clinicians should
partner with economists and policy analysts to expand and improve the
economic evidence available" [2] "the quality of economic evaluations
should be increased to inform decision makers and clinicians" [3] "The
economics of preventing hospital-acquired infections is most often
described in general terms. The underlying concepts and mechanisms are
rarely made explicit but should be understood for research and
policy-making" [4] The aim of this book is to describe how economics
should be used to inform decisi- making about infection control. Our
motivation stems from the previous quotes which show economics is being
used within the infection control community, but not to its full
potential. Our expectation is that you do not have any formal training
in economic analyses. Economic analyses have been used for many decades
to argue for increased funding for hospital infection-control. In 1957,
Clarke [5] investigated bed wastage in British hospitals due to
Staphylococcus aureus in patient's wounds. She concluded .... "the
average length of stay in hospital of patients whose wounds were
infected with Staph.
