 |
|
 |
 | |
|
|
- A hospital-acquired infection is an infection that happens as a result of treatment in a hospital but is secondary to a patient's original admitting diagnosis. Infections are considered hospital-acquired if they first appear 48 hours or more after hospital admission or within 30 days after discharge.
- Infections contracted in hospitals are the fourth largest killer in the U.S. Every year in this country, two million patients contract infections in hospitals and an estimated 100,000 die as a result - more than car accidents, breast cancer and AIDS combined.
- The estimated costs for hospital-acquired infections in the U.S. range from a $5 to $30.5 billion annually. Patients who acquired an infection spent more time in the hospital - an average of 20.6 days compared with 4.5 days for other patients, and their hospital stays cost six times more - $185,260 compared with $31,389.
- Patients who developed an infection while in the hospital had a higher death rate - 12.9 percent --compared with 2.3 percent for patients who didn't have an infection.
- All hospitalized patients are at risk of acquiring infections but some people are at greater risk than others: premature babies, young children, the elderly, the severely ill, and those with chronic conditions or undergoing treatments that undermine the immune system.
- These infections are most commonly caused by bacteria (Link to glossary and anchor to word) but can also spring from viruses, fungi, or parasites.
- Many hospital-acquired infections are caused by bacteria that have become resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics. Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) are the most common.
- Studies have found that three-fourths of surfaces in hospitals are infected with MRSA, a potent antibiotic-resistant bacterium that causes some 94,000 invasive infections in the U.S. each year, resulting in almost 19,000 deaths.
- Organisms acquired in the hospital can be transmitted throughout the community through discharged patients, visitors and staff.
- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the 4 most common hospital-acquired infections as:
- Urinary tract infections (UTI) 32%
- Surgical wound infections 22%
- Pneumonia (lung infections)15%
- Bloodstream infections 14%
- While not all hospital-acquired infections can be prevented, the vast majority of them can.
- The most important preventative measure is proper hand washing.
- A 2007 study of 1,256 hospitals by Leapfrog Group concluded the vast majority of hospitals don't take all of the recommended steps needed to prevent hospital-acquired infections.
- Risk for infection goes up with the number of procedures performed.
- 98% of surgical site infections can be attributed to microbes entering the wound at the time of surgery.
- Intubation tubes, catheters, surgical drains and tracheostomy tubes all bypass the body's natural lines of defense against pathogens and provide an easy route for infection.
- The longer the hospital stay the higher risk there is of contracting an infection.
- Infections erode hospital profits. When hospitals invest in proven precautions, they're rewarded with as much as tenfold financial return.
|
| |
|
