O’Brien WJ, et al. - A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted to ascertain whether exposure to 30-day postoperative infection is associated with an increased incidence of infection and mortality during postoperative days 31 to 365. In this study, they enrolled a sum of 659,486 individuals and the mean age was 59.7 (13.6) years who underwent major surgery through the Veterans Health Administration between January 2008 and December 2015. They noted that 23,815 (3.6%) had a 30-day infection, 43 796 (6.6%) had a long-term infection, and 24 810 (3.8%) died during follow-up among these patients. In comparison with those who had no 30 days infection, they noted that individuals with 30-day postoperative infection had a 3.2-fold higher risk of 1-year infection and a 1.9-fold higher risk of mortality, at any given point during the follow-up period. Cost-benefit evaluations for surgical infection prevention programs should involve the increased risk and costs of long-term infection and death. The long-term individual outcomes can be improved by postoperative preventive efforts in the first 30 days.