Paying the Price: What Causes Healthcare-Associated Infections and How They Are Contracted
Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are a growing concern for everyone impacted within the field of healthcare — both patients and providers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes that every day, one in 20 patients will contract an HAI. Equally disturbing, the economic burden of HAIs is suspected to reach over $30 billion a year.
Hospitals are the perfect environment for infections to manifest. Being isolated in a small area, day after day, with many other people who also have suppressed immune systems, understandably leaves patients highly susceptible to infection.
There are a number of patient safety networks and associations who have joined forces to improve infection control and lower the number of patients who contract these conditions.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections, norovirus, and Escherichi coli — these are just some of the better-known bacteria and viruses responsible for HAIs, according to Beckers Hospital Review.