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Have you ever been admitted to the hospital for surgery or illness? Have you ever caught an infection unrelated to your surgery or illness? If so, you have been the victim of a nosocomial infection also known as hospital-acquired infections.
C. difficile, MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus), are well known, but there are many others.
Do you know that you have more chances to die from a nosocomial infection than from a car accident?
Every year in Quebec, 90 000 people are afflicted by these infections and, of that number, 4000 die immediately.
A minimum of 50% of these infections could be avoided by better prevention and control measures such as strict hand hygiene.
Nosocomial infections are also very costly to the health system. On average they cost 180 millions dollars yearly.
By joining ADVIN you contribute to the promotion of safe care and quality hospitals.
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SERIOUS CONCERN FOR INFECTED ICU WARD AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY HOSPITAL |
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Written by Christine Besson
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Sunday, 12 November 2006 |
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 The Intensive Care Unit at The University of Kentucky Hospital is being disinfected thoroughly due to the presence of the bacteria Acinetobacter that infected 4 patients since September. The disinfection process lasts 36 hours during which the units are shut down completely. The procedure is a standard part of 's infection control protocol.
The bacillus can be resistant to several common antibiotics. It is present in the environment, even on some patients’ skin without causing any symptoms to healthy people, but in hospital patients, with a weakened immune system, it can cause a number of opportunistic infections, including pneumonias and serious blood or wound infections very resistant to antibiotics. It can live up to a month on any flat surface.
Most hospitals are now coping with infectious organisms that have mutated and become more and more resistant to common antibiotics. Next week, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council will release its annual report on hospital-acquired infections with data on the number of patients who suffered and/or died from these infections at each hospital in Pennsylvania
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