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Friday, January 29, 2010

Preventing hospital acquired infections

Hospital acquired Infections, opaquely called 'Iatrogenic" infections, are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. It has been estimated that such infections in hospitalized patients increase hospital stay by 4 to 5 days, resulting in extra expenditure of billions of dollars. A Center for Disease Control (CDC) report published in March-April 2007 estimated the number of U.S. deaths from healthcare associated infections in 2002 at 98,987.According to the World Health Organization, “At any given time, 1.4 million people worldwide are estimated to be suffering from an infection acquired in a health facility. The risk of acquiring healthcare-associated infections in developing countries is 2-20 times higher than in developed countries".Proper aseptic techniques and strict following of all protocols can drastically cut down this "needless" infection rate.

It is important that the latest guidelines on proper infection management are known to all medical personnel. The "Not on my watch" campaign by Kimberly-Clark Corporation in association with other organizations has developed haiwatch.com, primary source for healthcare professionals for information on the fight against preventable healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). On the site, you can find guidelines and protocols for aseptic precautions in hospitals.

The "Not on My Watch" campaign also provides accredited continuing education (CE) programs based on best practices and guidelines as well as research available on reducing the incidence of healthcare-associated infections.

So, if you need to refer to recent reports, news items, guidelines, articles, etc. on Hospital acquired Infections, head to haiwatch.com.