A new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that one in 25 patients in U.S. hospitals acquire an infection during their care even though hospitals have taken steps to reduce infections from spreading.
According to the report that accumulated data from over 183 hospitals, an estimated 648,000 patients acquired 721,000 infections in 2011. Perhaps the most concerning fact is that 75,000 of these patients died, although it’s impossible to determine how many of the deaths were a direct result of the hospital-acquired infection.
CDC Director Tom Frieden said the numbers are concerning.
“Today and every day, more than 200 Americans with healthcare-associated infections will die during their hospital stay,” said Frieden.
Common Infections
In its statement, the CDC listed the most common infections that affect patients during their hospital stay.
- Pneumonia (22 percent)
- Surgical Site Infections (22 percent)
- Gastrointestinal Infections (17 percent)
- Urinary Tract Infections (13 percent)
- Bloodstream Infections (10 percent)
Michael Bell, deputy director of the CDC division of health care quality promotion, said patients expect to go to the hospital to get better, not worse.
“Sooner or later everyone is likely to become a patient somewhere,” he said. “We go to the hospital hoping to become better, and mostly we do, but not always.”
Despite the concerning news, Bell noted that central line infections – instruments like catheters and ventilators placed into major blood vessels – have been cut nearly in half since 2008, and surgical infection rates have dropped about 20 percent. CDC officials noted that overall, hospital acquired-infections have declined since 2007.
Dr. Silverman comments
It’s impossible to completely eliminate patients from acquiring infections, but we need to make sure we do everything in our power to lessen a patient’s risk. Vigorous hand washing, sterilization and disinfecting are good starts, but it takes a whole team of committed individuals to reduce a patient’s risk.
From the outset a doctor needs to understand both the direct and indirect risks associated with a certain operation. Oftentimes indirect risks like infection acquisition are ignored or categorized as a necessary risk.
As is the motto on this blog, the best way to treat a hospital-acquired infection is to prevent one from occurring in the first place.
Related source: New England Journal of Medicine, Washington Post
