[Nosocomial infection control in France: a socio-historical approach].

This article argues that the emergence of nosocomial infections as a public health issue is the result of specific socio-cultural processes. An analysis of the French periodical Revue d'Hygiène et de Médecine Sociale over the period 1953-1988 and of the discourse of national actors in the fight against hospital-acquired infections demonstrates that the recognition of nosocomial infections as a public health issue occurred almost independently of objective criteria related to frequency or severity. It is suggested that professional and societal factors provide a better explanation of the emergence of nosocomial infections as a public health issue.