The burden of infection in hospitals

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that Staphylococcus aureus infection causes a great burden to hospitals in terms of increased cost, length of patient stay and mortality.
Staphylococcus aureus is a common infection within the hospital setting. It affects around one per cent of all stays in hospital, according to a new study from Northwestern University in the USA. Those who were affected stayed in hospital, on average, for three times longer than those who were not. They also had five times the risk of hospital death - 11.2 per cent compared to 2.3 per cent. If these figures were applied throughout the USA then the extra costs of S.aureus amount of about 9.5 billion dollars. Measures to reduce infection, such as more regular handwashing, antibiotics to reduce surgical site infection and isolation for certain patients may, hopefully, reduce this burden.

Source
Archives of Internal Medicine 8th August 2005