Hospital Acquired Infection Research Paper

Thousands of patients need medical help and care at inpatient and outpatient facilities each year in USA, unfortunately often they face life-danger problem- Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAI). According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, daily 1 in 25 patients has at least one infection developed from the hospitalization. So what is it hospital-acquired infection? What are the reasons of development? And the most important question- how can it be prevented? A hospital-acquired infection (HAI), also known as nosocomial infection, is a new infection that develops in a patient during hospitalization. Usually it is evident as an infection in forty-eight to seventy-two hours after admission, but is excluded at the admission, also

The most common type of nosocomial infections are surgical wound infections, respiratory infections (such as ventilator-associated pneumonia), urogenital infections, as well as gastrointestinal infections. Wound and burn infections often nosocomial in nature. Hospital-acquired infections are a major source of morbidity, and even mortality to surgical patients. Immunocompromised patients, the elderly and young children are usually more susceptible than others. Nosocomial infections frequently occur after inhalation therapy, during use of indwelling catheters, transmission of communicable diseases between patients and healthcare workers, surgical procedures, injections, contamination of the health care environment (even the food or water provided at hospitals) or during use of chemotherapeutic or immunosuppressive drugs. Norag Lee claims,” Longer duration of urinary catheter drainage, positive contact precautions status and a history of catheterization appear to be associated with a higher risk of catheter associated urinary tract infection in hospitalized pediatric patients. Physicians should attempt to decrease the duration of catheterization, especially in patients who meet these criteria, to minimize the risk of catheter associated urinary tract infection.” HAIs may be caused by any infectious agent, including bacteria (gram-positive and gram-negative), fungi, and viruses, as well as other less common types of pathogens. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most common pathogenic bacterium of nosocomial infections are Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Escherichia coli. Certain fungi such as Candida albicans and aspergillus, as well as, viruses such as Respiratory Syncytial Virus and influenza can also lead to hospital-acquired