When people get sick, they go to the hospital for treatment to make them feel better. But for some, their stay in the hospital only makes them sicker. Wounds can get infected even after being cleaned or a blood infection is possible after major surgery. A recent study shows that some patients are prone to becoming more sick while in the hospital.
The results of the study published in the international journal Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control, found that one in every ten patients in the hospital admitted for an acute (short term) condition had an infection while in the hospital for their health care.
In over thirty years, this is the first study of its kind in Australia. The researchers were also able to uncover unexpected infections such as urinary tract infection and pneumonia. They also discovered a number of patients that are carriers of multi-drug resistant organisms.
Most of these infections can easily be prevented. This is why it is important for medical professionals to know what type of bacteria they are and how these infections thrive. They also need to study how common these infections are as well as the type of people that usually get them. Once the doctors have all the information at hand, they can easily prevent these infections from spreading.
When these infections are left unchecked, they could make sick patients get sicker, which could readily divert hospital resources unnecessarily. Sadly, the spread of such infections could cause a great number of deaths and the numbers could be counting. There are several states in Australia that already have a coordinated program that looks into the possible hospital infections that could spread and kill a lot of people.
The data collected in the study may be used by hospitals to prevent the spread of infection in a place where people go to feel better. However, this type of surveillance requires an extensive amount of resources. There is also the possibility that these studies are not able to capture all infections on time that will help prevent their spread.
This is why the study used the strategy of "point prevalence" survey which basically looks into the snapshot of the current situation and what happens on an everyday basis. The process is less extensive but still provides the public with valuable information on the occurrence and distribution of all infections in the hospital.
To improve one's understanding of infections associated with health care services across the world, the study looked in 19 large hospitals across Australia over a four-month period. Though hospitals normally don't look for these infections, the findings of commonly occurring infections should be a priority to keep people from getting sick while trying to feel better in the hospital. When it comes to identifying infections, it is a must that patients can trust the place where they know they can recover.
