Infections contracted during hospital stays are on the decline, though not fast enough, new data suggests. Though a promising trend of infection prevention is developing, the rates of infection remains high, with one in 25 patients developing healthcare-related infections every day and 200 dying as a result.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) today released Healthcare-associated Infections (HAI) Progress Report, with data derived from more than 12,500 hospitals nationally.
The report found a 44 percent decrease in central line-associated bloodstream infections from 2008 to 2012, as well as a 20 decrease in surgery-related infections in the same four-year window. The HAI Progress Report also found a four percent reduction dangerous MRSA bloodstream infections contracted in hospitals from 2011 to 2012, as well as 2 percent reduction in Clostridium difficile infections also in 2011 - 2012. The reductions are thought to be the tangible results of doctors and medical practitioners adhering to strict best practice checklists and guidelines, indicating that the downturn in healthcare-associated infections can continue with the introduction of similar guidelines across the board. However, the HAI Progress Report also identified a three percent increase in urinary tract infections from catheter use between 2009 and 2012, noting that there's still some ways to go for best practices to be enforced.
The numbers, though largely positive, are still yet to make a significant dent in preventable deaths, with around 721,800 infections contracted in hospitals in 2011. Around 75,000 infected patients later died, with surgical site infections and post-surgical pneumonia the most common of the healthcare-associated infections.
Compared to earlier figures from 2002, however, healthcare-associated infections have undoubtedly dropped. 2002 saw 1.7 million healthcare-associated infections, with 155,668 of those infections resulting in death. Doctors across the country are welcoming the progress, even if it's a little slower than hoped.
"There's great data showing that we can actually move the needle significantly," said Dr. Michael Bell, director of the CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. "But at the same time, we're not doing a perfect job of doing everything we should, every single time, and there's some things which we haven't figured out how best to manage -- yet."
