In the United States, the national burden of healthcare-associated infections overall was estimated through a separate survey in 2011 of over 11,000 randomly selected inpatients from 183 general or pediatric acute care hospitals of varying size across 10 different states. Overall, 504 healthcare-associated infections in 452 patients (4.0 percent of the total surveyed population) were identified. Pneumonia and surgical-site infections were the most common, each accounting for 22 percent of all infections, followed by gastrointestinal, urinary tract, and primary bloodstream infections. Clostridium difficile and Staphylococcus aureus were the most common pathogens identified. Device-associated infections (ie, ventilator-associated pneumonia, catheter-related urinary tract infection, and catheter-related bloodstream infection) together accounted for 26 percent of all infections.
Based on these results and data on national hospital admissions and lengths of stay, an estimated 648,000 hospitalized patients in the United States experienced healthcare-associated infections in 2011. Of note, because of the scope of the survey, this estimate does not include individuals in other institutions, such as skilled nursing or longitudinal care facilities, who are also at risk of such infections. Nevertheless, these findings highlight the substantial problem of health care-associated infections and the importance of infection control measures that target all infections, not just those associated with devices. Beyond the additional morbidity for the individual patient, healthcare-associated infections lead to tremendous financial costs. The high prevalence of multi-drug resistant organisms associated with healthcare-associated infections further adds to the excess morbidity, mortality, and cost.
References
1. National Healthcare Safety Network. (2013, February 1). Retrieved July 24, 2014, from http://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/.
That is a interesting article, that makes you think about how often an infection is transferred while in a medical facility. Especially since the patients that are in the hospital already have a weakened immune system, and are more susceptible to an bacterial infection, or a virus. And while healthcare workers practice proper hand washing, and bacteria control, the health care workers are still at risk. And these infections do cost the health care facilities, a lot in health care since the individuals obtained the infection while in the hospital.
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