Biofilms in Infection and Disease Control: A Healthcare Handbook outlines the scientific evidence and rationale for the prevention of infection, the role biofilms play in infection control, and the issues concerning their resistance to antimicrobials. This book provides practical guidance for healthcare and infection control professionals, as well as students, for preventing and controlling infection.

Biofilms are the most common mode of bacterial growth in nature. Highly resistant to antibiotics and antimicrobials, biofilms are the source of more than 65 percent of health...

Biofilms are implicated in many common medical problems including urinary tract infections, catheter infections, middle-ear infections, dental plaque, gingivitis, and some less common but more lethal processes such as endocarditis and infections in cystic fibrosis. However, the true importance of biofilms in the overall process of disease pathogenesis has only recently been recognized. Bacterial biofilms are one of the fundamental reasons for incipient wound healing failure in that they may impair natural cutaneous wound healing and reduce topical antimicrobial efficiency in infected skin...