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The Importance of Infection Control in Health Care Settings
The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control estimates that more than five of every 100 patients admitted to hospitals in the United States contract care-associated (nosocomial) infections during their stay 1. Residents of long-term care facilities suffer the same fate at a rate of about one per resident per year 2. These often-preventable complications result in significant added morbidity and mortality for the patient, and increased costs to the provider. A single central line associated bloodstream infection in an intensive care patient can be expected to add $29,000 to the cost of hospitalization 3. Furthermore, the development of healthcare-associated infections influences antibiotic prescription patterns, often hastening the emergence of multiply-resistant microorganisms such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant enterococci (VRE).
The Study of the Efficacy of Nosocomial Infection Control (SENIC) 4 suggested that as many as 32% of nosocomial infections can be prevented through effective surveillance and control efforts. Clearly, patients, healthcare providers and provider systems all benefit from the prevention of nosocomial infections.
- Haley RW, Culver DH, White JW, et al. The efficacy of surveillance prevention and control programs in preventing nosocomial infections in U.S. hospitals. American Journal of Epidemiology 1985;121: 182-205.
- Haley RW, Culver DH, White JW, et al. The nationwide nosocomial infection rate - a new need for vital statistics. American Journal of Epidemiology 1985;121: 159-167 .
- Pittet D, Tarara D, Wenzel RP. Nosocomial bloodstream infections in critically ill patients: excess length of stay, costs, and attributable mortality. JAMA 1994;271:1598-1601.
- Haley RW, Culver DH, White JW, et al. The efficacy of surveillance prevention and control programs in preventing nosocomial infections in U.S. hospitals. American Journal of Epidemiology 1985;121: 182-205.
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