Making Health Care Safer: Protect Patients from Antibiotic Resistance

Making Health Care Safer: Protect Patients from Antibiotic Resistance

March 3, 2016

By: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

America is doing a better job of preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), but more work is needed – especially in fighting antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest Vital Signs report urges health care professionals to use a combination of infection control recommendations to better protect patients from these infections.
People receiving medical care can get HAIs, which may lead to sepsis or death. In acute care hospitals, 1 in 7 catheter- and surgery-related HAIs can be caused by any of the six antibiotic-resistant bacteria. That number increases to 1 in 4 infections in long-term acute care hospitals, which treat patients who are generally very sick and stay, on average, more than 25 days.
“New data show that far too many patients are getting infected with dangerous, drug-resistant bacteria in health care settings,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Doctors and healthcare facilities have the power to protect patients – no one should get sick while trying to get well.”

READ MORE: Making Health Care Safer: Protect Patients from Antibiotic Resistance