Over 1.7 million Americans acquire infections in US hospitals each year. These hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) affect 4.5 out of 100 patients, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. They can harm newborns, small children and adults alike.
Hospital-acquired infections are not limited to infections occurring in hospitals or other health care facilities. Sometimes, these infections incubate from the time of admission, but symptoms may not manifest until the patient has been released. Although technological advances have improved general public health, these infections continue to happen and claim thousands of lives every year.
Urinary Tract Infections
About three quarters of all HAIs are urinary tract infections (UTIs), surgical site infections, pneumonia, or bloodstream infections. Just as each type has its own origins and symptomology, prevention may also depend on those distinctions. For example, in preventing UTIs, which account for almost 80 per cent of all cases, practitioners should avoid increasing the risk of infections. With UTIs, using coated catheters, reducing duration of use, and ending use when there is antibiotic irritation are all preventative strategies.
Because HAIs are preventable, training hospital staff is the first step in reducing risks. Staff should never underestimate the power of proper hygiene in the prevention of infections. To be sure, patients and their guests should be educated on infection prevention as well. But responsibility for avoiding infections has to start with strict adherence by medical professionals to handwashing protocols and other sanitary procedures.
In some medical environments, checklists and other tools are being used to reduce the risk of infections. Many hospitals now monitor infection rates and work diligently on prevention protocols. But much more needs to be done to prevent infections caused by medical mistakes.
HAIs cost the public an estimated $28 to $33 billion in excess expenditures each year. Medicaid now bars payment to hospitals for injuries to patients due to hospital negligence. But infections still result in longer and more emotionally challenging hospital stays and unnecessary medical treatments, further increasing the risk of death or disability.
Hospitals should be places for patients to heal, not places for harm. Through education, active practice and awareness, medical facilities and the professionals who care for patients in them, should work to prevent as many infections as possible.
