Originating or taking place in a hospital,
acquired in a hospital, especially in reference to an infection.
The term "nosocomial" comes from two Greek words: "nosus"
meaning "disease" + "komeion" meaning "to take care of."
Hence, "nosocomial" should apply to any disease contracted by a
patient while under medical care. However, "nosocomial" has been
whittled down over the years and now just refers to hospitals -- it
is now synonymous with hospital-acquired.
If someone in a hospital slips and breaks their hip, could that be
a nosocomial fracture of the femur? No way. The only things that are
nosocomial these days are infections. Nosocomial infections
are ones that have been caught in a hospital.
Since antibiotics have come into common usage, bacteria that are
resistant to them have also become common, especially in hospitals,
so there are now lots of nosocomial infections.
A nosocomial infection is specifically one that was not present or
incubating prior to the patient being admitted to the hospital, but
occurred within 72 hours after admittance to the hospital.
A bacterium named Clostridium difficile is now recognized as the chief cause of nosocomial diarrhea in the US and Europe.
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