Hospital-related infections are on the decline, a latest report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states.
For the study, researchers gathered information about hospital infection rates and patient care from 183 hospitals. They surveyed 11,282 patients from May 2011 to September 2011. The researchers stated that during the study time frame, 721,800 people developed infections at the hospitals.
According to the estimates by CDC, nearly 75,000 patients succumbed to infections. Although the numbers are still higher than normal, the researchers stated that in 2002, there were 1.7 million health care-related infections. Of these, 155,668 died with 98,987 of the deaths caused by the actual infection.
The researchers, however, did not identify whether or not the deaths in 2011 occurred due to the infection or other factors. However, the statistics show that numbers of patients getting infections is on decline.
They said of all infections, pneumonia and surgical-sites were the most common ones. They accounted for 22 percent each out of all the cases. Other common infections were gastrointestinal infections, urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections. The researchers said that although the study findings show a fall in the overall infection rates, there was still a huge gap between the infection risks at different hospitals.
"Even though we've had great success nationally, there still are pockets of hospitals that have rates of infection that are several times the national average. The reality is that oftentimes there's very little that's being done about it," Dr. Peter Pronovost, director of the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality at John Hopkins said, reports CNN. "There's no accountability for a hospital that has very high infection rates, and my sense is, there absolutely needs to be."
"Although there has been some progress, today and every day, more than 200 Americans with health-care-associated infections will die during their hospital stay," said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. in a press release.
