- Infection Prevention
You have the power to prevent infections
A comprehensive approach to infection prevention
The uPrevent™ infection prevention and control program is your source for building and enhancing your infection prevention program. Supported by our team of expert clinicians, we offer recommendations, guidelines and products for core infection prevention areas, collected from public and private sources. Access our resource library for additional content on preventing infections.
The Importance of Infection Prevention
Preventable infections affect patient outcomes, staff safety, trust and organizational reputation. Inadequate infection prevention can lead to severe complications, including prolonged recovery times and increased risks of mortality, especially those within vulnerable populations (1, 2, 3). These infections can also impact healthcare providers by increasing their labor demands, treatment costs and strain on an already pressurized healthcare system (4).
By prioritizing infection prevention practices, providers are committing to offering high-quality, reliable care and reducing HAIs bettering outcomes for themselves and their patients(5, 6, 7). uPrevent supports proactive infection prevention with clinically grounded education, established clinical standards, and product considerations you can trust. Explore through the tenets above to see how small, informed decisions can make a measurable difference for both you and your patients.
Infection Prevention Resources
Educational Webinar: From Childbed Fever to MDROs – Why Handwashing Still Matters
Watch webinar34 min read
Lessons from the 2024-2025 quad-demic: How providers can prepare for the next illness season
Read Article15 min read
Educational Webinar: Level Up: Enhanced Barrier Precautions with Demonstration
Watch webinar5 min read
Educational Webinar: Practice Essentials for Primary and Extended Care IPs: Information and Resources for Your IP Toolkit
Watch webinar5 min read
Frequently Asked Questions in Infection Prevention
It’s essential to break the chain of infection, which includes: 1) infectious agent, 2) reservoir, 3) portal of exit; 4) mode of transmission; 5) portal of entry; and 6) susceptible host.1
While many steps are vital, hand hygiene may be the most important. Washing hands thoroughly for 20 seconds with soap and water can eliminate multiple pathogens simultaneously.2
Infection prevention involves universal and standard precautions; environmental cleaning and disinfection; needles, syringes and sharps safety; cleaning, decontamination and sterilization; and surgical site infection prevention. 5
Like other viruses, norovirus is spread from person to person. This can include having direct contact with a carrier, consuming contaminated food or beverages, touching contaminated surfaces or objects and then putting your fingers in your mouth.
Norovirus can cause extreme vomiting and diarrhea, as well as dehydration. It can even lead to death, especially among older adults.
Wash your hands often and well. Clean and disinfect contaminated surfaces thoroughly. Use precautions in preparing and handling food.
Candida auris (C. auris) is a fungus resistant to antifungal medicine. Although it’s not a threat to healthy people, it can be deadly for people who are very sick, have invasive medical devices or spend significant time in healthcare facilities.
Since many cases are resistant to echinocandins, the treatment of choice, it’s much harder to stop the spread of the C. auris virus.
Our uPrevent™ infection prevention and control program is your single source for building and enhancing your infection prevention program. Explore the focus areas listed above for critical Infection Prevention resources and selected products.
Our clinical resource team is here to help
Whether you have questions about infection prevention best practices or you need product recommendations, you can count on us to have the tools and resources you need to enhance your infection prevention program.
*If you are not completely satisfied with any McKesson Brands product, you may return it for a full refund or credit within 12 months from the purchase date. McKesson Brands’ satisfaction guarantee is limited to products purchased directly from McKesson. If a McKesson Brands product is not purchased directly from McKesson, any return request or request for refund must be directed to the selling party.
Be advised that information contained herein is intended to serve as a useful reference for informational purposes only and is not complete clinical information. This information is intended for use only by competent healthcare professionals exercising judgment in providing care. McKesson cannot be held responsible for the continued currency of or for any errors or omissions in the information.
The product information contained in this document, including the product images and additional product materials, was collected from various supplier sources. All product claims and specifications are those of the product suppliers and have not been independently verified by McKesson Medical-Surgical or its affiliates (“McKesson”). McKesson is not responsible for errors or omissions in the product information. The properties of a product may change or be inaccurate following the posting or printing of the product information in the document, either in the print or online version. Caution should be exercised when using or purchasing any products from McKesson’s online or print documents by closely examining the product packaging and the labeling prior to use. Due to product changes, information listed in this document is subject to change without notice. This information is placed solely for your convenience in ordering and McKesson disclaims all responsibility for its completeness and accuracy, whether or not the inaccuracy or incompleteness is due to fault or error by McKesson.
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- Glance LG, Stone PW, Mukamel DB, Dick AW. Increases in Mortality, Length of Stay, and Cost Associated With Hospital-Acquired Infections in Trauma Patients. Arch Surg. 2011;146(7):794–801. doi:10.1001/archsurg.2011.41 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamasurgery/fullarticle/1107070 ↩︎
- Xie L, Xia K, Xu X, Zhu M, Li H, Wang J, Chen M. Mortality burden and epidemiology of procedure- and device-related healthcare-associated infections in the United States, 1999–2023. Front Public Health. 2025;13:1689828. doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1689828 https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1689828/full#cite ↩︎
- Yengudhati V, Gutowski J, Glassman S, et al. The differential burden of 3 health care–associated infections on hospital costs and lengths of stay: A quasi-experimental case-control observation. American Journal of Infection Control. 2024;52:1466–1468. https://www.ajicjournal.org/article/S0196-6553(24)00629-1/abstract ↩︎
- Sentiff JL, Yenugadhati V, Spitz C, Glassman S, Phillips M, Frey S, Lesho EP. The Impact of Healthcare Associated Infections on Costs and Lengths of Stay, 2019–2023. Open Forum Infectious Diseases. 2023;10(Suppl 2):ofad500.2056. doi:10.1093/ofid/ofad500.2056 https://academic.oup.com/ofid/article/10/Supplement_2/ofad500.2056/7446730 ↩︎
- World Health Organization (WHO). Infection prevention and control. Available at: https://www.who.int/health-topics/infection-prevention-and-control ↩︎
- Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)/WHO. The core components of infection prevention and control programs: from guidelines to implementation in real life. Available at: https://www.paho.org/sites/default/files/The%20core%20components%20of%20IPC%20introduction.pdf ↩︎
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Global Action in Healthcare Network – Healthcare-Associated Infections (GAIHN-HAI). Available at: https://cdc.gov/international-infection-control/hcp/about/gaihn-hai.html ↩︎