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Healthcare-Associated Infections Today

By October 29, 2021March 7th, 2022No Comments
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Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infectious diseases acquired in healthcare facilities, and they are caused by viral, bacterial, or fungal pathogens. HAIs are a complex problem that persist despite strong efforts to irradicate them. Some of the most common HAIs are central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), surgical site infections (SSIs), and ventilator-associated pneumonia.

HAIs are found at all types of healthcare facilities including hospitals, long-term care homes, and medical clinics and they can be transmitted by healthcare providers, other patients, and medical devices. Due to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, pathogens may also pose an additional risk of resistance to treatment, resulting in severe complications or death. Thus, proper infection prevention and control practices are crucial to ensure the safety of patients.

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The consequences of HAIs may be greater than you think. Between five and ten percent of all hospital admissions in the US and Europe are complicated by HAIs (1). In the US alone, up to two million people suffer from HAIs and result in the death of more than 100,000 patients, this makes HAIs one of the leading causes of death in the country (2). To make matters worse, the financial consequences of HAIs are estimated at $45 billion per year and are projected to increase in the coming years (3,4). For example, CLABSIs in the US have been estimated to cost up to $20,000 USD (5). Other indirect costs may include the loss of worker productivity of patients contracting an HAI and prolonging their hospital stay, as well as healthcare professionals becoming infected in their own workplace.

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In the past few decades, the severity of HAIs has reached the public eye and applied pressure to healthcare facilities, resulting in the implementation of stricter guidelines surrounding the prevention of infectious diseases. This is one major step to creating a safe patient environment, yet HAIs remain a persistent problem. It is interesting to imagine what our healthcare systems will look like in years to come. What type of innovations will prevent the spread of infectious diseases? Will a world of HAIs ever come to an end?

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  1. Humphreys H, Newcombe RG, Enstone J, Smyth ET, McIlvenny G, Fitzpatrick F, Fry C, Spencer RC, Hospital Infection Society Steering Group. Four country healthcare associated infection prevalence survey 2006: risk factor analysis. Journal of Hospital Infection. 2008 Jul 1;69(3):249-57.
  2. Klevens RM, Edwards JR, Richards Jr CL, Horan TC, Gaynes RP, Pollock DA, Cardo DM. Estimating health care-associated infections and deaths in US hospitals, 2002. Public health reports. 2007 Mar;122(2):160-6.
  3. Research Committee of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America. Enhancing patient safety by reducing healthcare-associated infections: the role of discovery and dissemination. Infection control and hospital epidemiology: the official journal of the Society of Hospital Epidemiologists of America. 2010 Feb;31(2):118.
  4. Stone PW. Economic burden of healthcare-associated infections: an American perspective. Expert review of pharmacoeconomics & outcomes research. 2009 Oct 1;9(5):417-22.
  5. Kilgore M, Brossette S. Cost of bloodstream infections. American journal of infection control. 2008 Dec 1;36(10): S172-e1.