Tackling the issue of healthcare associated infections through point- of-care devices

This review aims to systematically present the epidemiology, prevalence, and economic impact of HAIs,
with a strong focus on the detection of the most common bacterial strains with point-of-care devices
(POC), as alternatives to conventional methods.
A summary of the surveillance data available from studies conducted in multiple regions across the
globe regarding the spread of HAIs and in-depth analysis taking into consideration the different
perspectives and critical roles of the healthcare provider, patient, and payer are provided. Strategies and
issues section, tackling approaches to reduce the prevalence of HAI/AMR by surveillance systems, leads
up to the perspectives of development for rapid detection devices.
Different commercially available POC devices already implemented in clinical practice are presented,
followed by a discussion of POC systems developed in laboratory settings for monitoring of bacteria
involved in HAIs, that are not available on the market. Also, an overview on the developed sensors for
bacteria detection with significant prospects for future translation to POC is detailed