Book excerpt: Practical Healthcare Epidemiology takes a hands-on approach to infection prevention for physicians, healthcare epidemiologists, infection preventionists, microbiologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals. Increased regulatory requirements and patient knowledge and involvement has elevated patient safety, healthcare-associated infections, antibiotic stewardship and quality-of-care to healthcare wide issues. This fully updated new edition brings together the expertise of leaders in healthcare epidemiology to provide best practice expert guidance on infection prevention for adult and pediatric patients in all types of healthcare facilities, from community hospitals and academic institutions, to long-term care and resource limited settings. Written in clear, straightforward terms to address prevention planning and immediate responses to specific situations, this is the go-to resource for any practitioners in medicine or public health involved in infection prevention, regardless of their current expertise in the field.