In a Health and Human Services department report to Congress, apparently there is still a long way to go in curbing the spread of infections at hospitals and medical centers around the country. The report is based on 2007 numbers and called for ‘urgent attention’ to address the problems of hospital-acquired infections.
The most common infections are blood steam infections that happen after operations, urinary tract infections and pneumonia related infections. The report states that blacks, Hispanics, Asians, and American Indian patients are more likely to get dangerous infections than whites because whites tend to get preventative medications before their surgery.
In a finding that is not really a surprise, people with health insurance are less likely to get hospital infections than those that do not have insurance.
The Center for Disease Control lists common hospital infections and tips on how to prevent infections on its website at www.cdc.org. It also goes on to say that the possibility of outbreaks of infections at hospitals is very real and by stopping these infections it could save doctors and hospitals millions of dollars each year.
The federal Agency for Health care Research and Quality introduced a program last year at 100 hospitals to reduce infections and so far it has yielded excellent results.
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