Hospital-Acquired Infections Affect 1 in 25 Patients

Atlanta, GA—A new CDC survey has found that on any given day, 4% of patients in the U.S. have a hospital-acquired infection, which translates to over 600,000 individuals each year. About half of those infections were linked to a device such as a catheter or ventilator or occurred following surgery. Pneumonia (22%), infections at the surgical site (22%), and stomach or intestinal illnesses (17%) were the most common. Clostridium difficile, which kills an estimated 14,000 people each year, was the most common bacterium responsible. Despite continuing concern about hospital-acquired infections and antibiotic resistance, the U.S. does not have a national system for collecting this type of data. Results have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

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