Those of us who work in the field of infection control have a lot on our minds: Surveillance, efficacy, new studies, data, policy, finances... the list goes on. There is one important aspect of infection control that should never leave our minds, however - the patient. Today's post focuses on the support and advocacy groups whose sole function is to keep the patient's experience front and center.

Crime scene investigators use many tools to figure out the events leading up to a crime, how the crime was committed, and how to apprehend the criminal. They draw on their knowledge of physics, psychology, statistics, and many other fields in order to glean as much information as possible from the evidence. In many ways, hospital epidemiologists operate in the same way - with very similar tools. In these cases, the victims of the crime are vulnerable patients. The criminals? Infectious pathogens leading to infection. Today we will explore one tool they share in common: DNA sequencing.