Hospital
infections a deadly threat!
July 23. 2002
Hospital-acquired infections are among the biggest public
health threats in America
and they’re on the rise. The often drug-resistant germs kill more than twice
as many people as traffic accidents and cost an estimated $4.5 billion a year.
SHARON PAULEY can barely muster the energy for a walk with her son
John. Two and a half years ago Pauley was a bundle of energy — an avid golfer.
But then she got an infection in her chest bones during heart surgery. That
one hospital stay has led to 16 more and every day John must change the dressings
on the tube his mother needs for massive doses of antibiotics. “It’s just
a nightmare to go through these procedures time after time,” Sharon said.
Pauley is only one victim of one of the biggest causes of disease and death
in this country.
How to protect yourself !
MAJOR CAUSE OF DEATH
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates one in 20 people
admitted to the hospital gets an infection there. That adds up to 2 million
infections
a year — and 90,000 deaths, making it the fourth leading cause of death in the
United States. But a report by the Chicago Tribune that analyzed records from
75 federal and state agencies, as well as internal hospital files, patient databases
and court cases, found that about 103,000 deaths were linked to hospital infections
in 2000 — 14 percent higher than the CDC’s numbers. According to the report,
since 1995, more than 75 percent of all hospitals have
been cited for serious cleanliness and sanitation violations.
More
Hidden Health dangers
PREVENTING INFECTIONS
CDC officials said they believe most hospital infections are preventable, but
the agency has not arrived at a precise number. So what can be done about it?
Many of the necessary precautions are well-known: frequent hand-washing, wearing
protective gowns and constantly taking cultures to watch for antibiotic-resistant
germs. More than 70 percent of the hospital-acquired infections are resistant
to at least one antibiotic. Studies On Patented
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The CDC said it is such a danger that patients need to ask about a hospital’s
infection control practices. “They need to ask their physicians and their nurses
to follow all the recommend guidelines. It’s OK to ask a physician or remind
a physician to wash their hands,” said the CDC’s Dr. Steven Soloman. The American
Hospital Association said the last decade of unprecedented cost-cutting and financial
instability has impacted all areas of hospital care. “It’s had an effect on infection
control and it’s had an effect on our ability to recruit and retain workers.
It’s had an effect on our ability to invest in new and updated equipment as much
as we would like to,” said Rick Wade, spokesman for the AHA.
Cal Warriner, a malpractice attorney, agrees: “They’re squeezed so tightly by
budget constraints that this is one of the places where patient care suffers.
And frankly if you think about it for a minute, it costs a lot of money to prevent
infections and it is not a revenue-generating concept or activity.” But it is
a necessity, many experts agree, to stem an epidemic of frightening proportions.
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How
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