Nosocomial or Hospital-acquired Infections: An Overview

osocomial or hospital-acquired infections (HAI) are a leading cause of orbidity and mortality in the USA. Several studies have been onducted over the years to characterize and quantify this ever-growing ublic health problem. In a 2002 study published in 2007, the estimated umber of HAI in US hospitals, adjusted to include federal facilities, was .7 million, with almost 99,000 deaths directly resulting from the nfection. The highest infection rates per 1000 patient-days occurred in ntensive care units (ICU), followed by high-risk nurseries. urgical site infections accounted for a significant number of infecions. The most common sites of infection in this study included rinary tract infections, which accounted for 36% of HAI, surgical site nfections (20%), pneumonia (11%), and bloodstream infection (11%). In 995, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated 1.9 million AI. Among the deaths associated were the following 35,967 neumonia, 30,665 bloodstream infections, 13,088 urinary tract infecions, 8205 surgical site infections, and 11,062 other infections. Other ational estimates are closely aligned with these data. Within the context of HAI are selected pathogens that are or have merged as significant public health threats—methicillin-resistant staphlococcus aureus (MRSA), Enterococcus-resistant vancomycin, and lostridium difficile (C diff). The latter is especially problematic as t is highly difficult to eradicate from the health care environment and is ncreasing in incidence and certain strains are emerging with increased irulence. C diff will be discussed in the next article. oreover, antibiotic use is a preceding catalyst as are other commonly mployed medical interventions, especially among the very young and ld. Given the well-recognized reality that hand hygiene rates re abysmal among health care workers, another risk factor for C diff, it s likely continued unnecessary deaths from C diff specifically and HAI