Study Finds that Pneumonia is Most Common Health Care-Associated Infection

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently published the results of a first-time study which involved a survey of nearly 12,000 patients. The patients were all individuals that were hospitalized in a total of 183 hospitals in the U.S. The hospitals were located in Georgia, Tennessee, New York, Maryland, Connecticut, Minnesota, New Mexico, Colorado, California and Oregon. Of the 11,282 patients in the study, 452 were found to have infections that were contracted in the hospital; this amounted to 4% of all patients surveyed. It was found that 26% of health care-associated infections (HAI) discovered in inpatients throughout those included in the study was pneumonia or lower respiratory tract infections. The second highest location in the body of HAIs was surgical site infections (22%) followed by gastro-intestinal tract infections (17%), urinary tract infections (13%), infections in the bloodstream (10%) and then other areas comprising the final 12%. If you or someone you care about has gotten ill or suffered complications due to infections in hospitals then speak with a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.

Dr. Shelley S. Magill with the CDC's division of health care quality promotion in Atlanta is hoping that the study will help prevent such occurrences of HAIs by identifying how they were transmitted in the hospital. It was found that 39% of the pneumonia or other respiratory infections were associated with ventilator use. 84% of the bloodstream infections were associated with central lines and about 65% of urinary tract infections (UTIs) were associated with catheters. Other statistics that were revealed by the study included what part of a hospital HAIs were discovered in. Less than half of the infections found in patients occurred in intensive care units (ICUs) while 56% were discovered to have been incurred in other areas of the hospital. Those involved in conducting the study pointed out that the surveyed number of hospitals and patients in those hospitals were fairly small when compared how many medical facilities there actually are across the U.S. The results give a "snapshot of HAIs" according to Dr. Magill but the limited survey numbers make it difficult to draw more generalized conclusions.

Atlanta Medical Malpractice Lawyer for Hospital Infection Cases

Medical malpractice cases can come in many forms including infections in hospitals due to contaminated instruments, contaminated equipment or ineffective sterilization or sanitation practices by medical personnel. Don't hesitate to contact us at the Tolson Firm today to arrange an initial consultation if you or someone you care about was the victim of medical malpractice.