Infectious diseases and epidemics associated since ever the men's history. In each historical age, arose different methods and theories about treating and preventing infectious diseases. It is important to separate hospital-acquired infections and community-acquired infectious diseases. Within epidemiology, a specific branch deals with nosocomial infections. The most important goal is their prevention named as infection control. To be able to assess the extent of current progress in nosocomial infections, it is important to understand the history of infection control, which is nowadays a worldwide program because healthcare associated infections affected hundreds of millions of patients every year.  Kulcsszavak: infekció kontroll, történelem