Hospital-Acquired Infections: Causes, Costs, and Prevention
1. Introduction
Nowadays, most of the complications affecting hospitalized patients are hospital-acquired (HAI) or nosocomial infections. These infections are usually caused by Gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics. As a result, HAIs cause significant mortality and morbidity, as well as increased costs of health care.
2. What are hospital-acquired infections?
Hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) are defined as infections that patients acquire during their hospital stay. Nosocomial infections are a type of HAI that occur in patients who have been hospitalized for more than 48 hours. The most common types of nosocomial infections include pneumonia, bloodstream infection, and urinary tract infection.
3. The cost of hospital-acquired infections
HAIs are a major problem in hospitals because they cause significant mortality and morbidity, as well as increased costs of health care. In the United States, HAIs are estimated to affect 5% of all hospitalized patients and to cause 90,000 deaths each year. The annual cost of HAIs is estimated to be $28-$33 billion.
4. The most common hospital-acquired infections
The most common types of HAIs are pneumonia, bloodstream infection, and urinary tract infection. Other less common but serious HAIs include surgical site infection, gastrointestinal infection, and viral infection.
5. How can hospital-acquired infections be prevented?
There are several measures that can be taken to prevent HAIs:
– Hand hygiene: Healthcare workers should clean their hands with alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water before and after contact with each patient.
– Screening and isolation: Patients with certain risk factors (e.g., recent antibiotic use, history of surgery) should be screened for carriage of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs) such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) or vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). Patients who test positive for MDROs should be placed in contact isolation until they are no longer colonized with the organisms.
– Environmental cleaning: All surfaces in the patient’s room should be cleaned on a regular basis with an EPA-registered disinfectant.
– Vaccination: All healthcare workers should be vaccinated against influenza and other relevant infectious diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV).
– Antimicrobial stewardship: The use of antibiotics should be limited to cases where there is a clear medical indication and the benefits outweigh the risks. Antibiotic prescribing should be guided by local antibiograms to ensure that the most effective agents are used.
6. Conclusion
HAIs are a major problem in hospitals because they cause significant mortality and morbidity, as well as increased costs of health care. There are several measures that can be taken to prevent HAIs, including hand hygiene, screening and isolation, environmental cleaning, vaccination, and antimicrobial stewardship.