Three million Europeans catch infections in hospital annually
Key points
- On any given day, some 80,000 patients in Europe are fighting an infection they picked up in hospital, often while in intensive care, the EU's disease monitoring agency said in a survey published on Thursday.
- Urinary tract infections (UTI) Wound infection Pneumonia (lung infection) Bloodstream infection.
- Strict hospital infection control procedures and policies Correct and frequent hand washing by all hospital staff and patients Cautious use of antibiotic medication.
- If you are going to hospital, there are things you can do before admission and in hospital that will help reduce the chance of you getting an infection.
On any given day, some 80,000 patients in Europe are fighting an infection they picked up in hospital, often while in intensive care, the EU's disease monitoring agency said in a survey published on Thursday.
Although some of these infections can be treated easily, others - like the superbug MRSA and other drug-resistant bugs - can be fatal or affect patients' health very seriously, taking several months of costly hospital care and medication to beat.
A survey by the European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control (ECDC) found that on any given day, one in 18 patients in European hospitals has at least one hospital-acquired infection - amounting to around 3.2 million patients per year.
"Healthcare-associated infections pose a major public health problem and a threat to European patients," said Marc Sprenger, director of the Stockholm-based ECDC.
He said many of these infections could be prevented by well thought-out, sustained and multi-pronged prevention and control programs and he urged hospitals to step up the fight.
"Such programs, as well as prudent use of antibiotics, will help all actors involved to protect the patients of European hospitals," he said in a statement.
The ECDC warned last year that doctors are increasingly having to turn to last-ditch antibiotics due to growing drug-resistant superbug infections in Europe - many of them acquired in hospitals.
Types of infections
The most common types of infection acquired in hospitals are:
Urinary tract infections (UTI)
Wound infection
Pneumonia (lung infection)
Bloodstream infection.
Infections are treated with antibiotics and usually respond well. Occasionally, infections can be serious and life threatening. Some bacteria are hard to treat because they are resistant to standard antibiotics. These bacteria are sometimes called ‘superbugs’. Two examples of superbugs are:
Staphylococcus aureus - often called ‘golden staph’ or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
Resistant Enterococcus - also referred to as vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE).
Controlling infection
Spread of infection can be controlled and reduced by:
Strict hospital infection control procedures and policies
Correct and frequent hand washing by all hospital staff and patients
Cautious use of antibiotic medication.
How to reduce your risk
Written and revised by
David Cohen, M.D.
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