Gram-negative, hospital-acquired infections: a growing problem.

This issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology contains multiple articles focusing on the clinical and public health implications of infections by extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Acinetobacter baumannii and their resistance profiles to commonly prescribed antimicrobials. The first five articles in this issue add to a growing body of literature that substantiates the following: (1) as in North America, gramnegative pathogens are important causes of hospitalacquired infections in Europe and Asia; (2) antimicrobial resistance among gram-negative pathogens is a global problem; (3) the pathogens encountered in healthcare institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia are, for the most part, similar; (4) the risk factors (eg, device use or antimicrobial overprescribing) associated with hospitalacquired infections and antimicrobial resistance are universal; (5) surveillance activities are important for the characterization and control of gram-negative, healthcareassociated infections in Europe and Asia and require appropriate integration of epidemiologic, microbiologic, and clinical data; and (6) the microbiology laboratory is important in the characterization and control of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance.