Infections and their complications are a very important clinical area in the intensive care unit setting. Community-acquired infections and nosocomial infections both contribute to the high level of disease acquisition common among critically ill patients. The accurate diagnosis of nosocomial infections and the provision of appropriate therapies, including antimicrobial therapy effective against the identified agents of infection, have been shown to be important determinants of patient outcome.

Critical care practitioners are in a unique position in dealing with infectious diseases. They are often the initial providers of care to seriously ill patients with infections. Additionally, they have a responsibility to ensure that nosocomial infections are prevented and that antimicrobial resistance is minimized by prudently employing antibiotic agents. It is the editors' hope that this book will provide clinicians practicing in the intensive care unit with a reference to help guide their care of infected patients. To that end they have brought together a group of international authors to address important topics related to infectious diseases for the critical care practitioner.

General Aspects

Approach to the Febrile Patient in the Intensive Care Unit
Cardiovascular Monitoring in Severe Sepsis or Septic Shock
Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Infection
Opportunistic Infections in the Intensive Care Unit: A Microbiologic Overview
Infections in Critically Ill Solid Organ Transplant Recipients
HIV in the Intensive Care Unit
Fungal Infections
Using Protocols To Improve the Outcomes of Critically Ill Patients with Infection: Focus on Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia and Severe Sepsis
Microbial Surveillance in the Intensive Care Unit
Use of Anti-infective Therapy in Critically III Patients
Antimicrobial Prophylaxis in the Intensive Care Unit
Antifungal Therapy in the Intensive Care Unit
Dose Adjustment and Pharmacokinetics of Antibiotics in Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock
Prescription of Antimicrobial Agents in Patients Undergoing Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy
Methods for Implementing Antibiotic Control in the Intensive Care Unit
Use of Antibiotics in Pregnant Patients in the Intensive Care Unit
Immunomodulation in Sepsis
Antibiotic Induced Diarrhea
Infection Control/Epidemiology
Fundamentals of Infection Control and Strategies for the Intensive Care Unit
Antibiotic Resistance in the Intensive Care Unit
Epidemiology of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in the Intensive Care Unit
How To Control MRSA Spread in the Intensive Care Unit
Epidemiology of Acinetobacter baumannii in the Intensive Care Unit
Bloodstream Infections and Infection Disease Emergencies
Brain Abscess
Falciparum Malaria
Toxic Shock Syndromes
Acute Infective Endocarditis
Influenza
Bloodstream Infection in the Intensive Care Unit
Bloodstream Infections in Patients with Total Parenteral Nutrition Catheters
Hemodialysis Catheter-Related Infections
Infection of Pulmonary Arterial and Peripheral Arterial Catheters
Prevention of Catheter-Related Bloodstream Infections in Critical Care Patients
Meningococcemia
Septic Shock
Respiratory Infections
Tracheobronchitis in the Intensive Care Unit
Severe Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Legionnaires' Disease
Adjunctive and Supportive Measures for Community-Acquired Pneumonia
Respiratory Infection in Immunocompromised Neutropenic Patients
Pneumonia in Non-Neutropenic Immunocompromised Patients
Community-Acquired Respiratory Complications in the Intensive Care Unit: Pneumonia and Acute Exacerbations of COPD
Management of Hospital-Associated Pneumonia in the Intensive Care Unit
Assessment of Resolution of Ventilator Associated Pneumonia
Invasive Devices in the Pathogenesis of Nosocomial Pneumonia
Infections with Surgical Implications
Multiple Organ Dysfunction Syndrome
Sepsis in Obstetrics
Diagnosis and Management of Intra-abdominal Sepsis
Surgical Site Infection Control in the Critical Care Environment
Severe Soft Tissue Infections: A Syndrome-Based Approach
Vascular Graft Infections
Acute Mediastinitis
Pancreatic Infection
Urinary Tract Infections
Neurosurgical Infections in Intensive Care Unit Patients
Biliary Tract Infections.