BD Worldwide > Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)

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The majority of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are caused by bacteria that are resistant to one or more of the antibiotics commonly used to treat infections. The two most troublesome drug-resistant bacteria are methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). Increased length of hospital stay, mortality and excess hospital costs have been documented for MRSA and VRE-associated infections. Patients acquiring an MRSA infection have up to a four-fold risk of death, with antibiotic treatment options being very limited.*

In many countries, particularly the U.S., MRSA and VRE prevalence rates are rising at an alarming rate. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 63% of staph infections reported in hospitals are now the resistant MRSA strain, up from only 2% in 1972. And VRE is following a similar track. CDC issued new guidance in October 2006 calling on U.S. hospitals to make comprehensive infection control programs a priority and to take aggressive steps to reduce rates of drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA and VRE.*

“Effective and comprehensive programs to prevent drug-resistant infections are essential to improve patient safety. We need to reduce the number of these serious, life-threatening infections – doing so helps patients get healthy and, most importantly, saves lives” – Dr. Denise Cardo, Director of CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion

Fortunately, many of the millions of HAIs occurring every year can be prevented – and unnecessary deaths avoided. There are hundreds of individual hospital experiences from around the world that document the effectiveness of known infection prevention and control practices in preventing HAIs. Organizations including the CDC, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) have developed evidenced-based intervention guidelines and “bundles” that are proven to reduce and help prevent HAIs.*

“Healthcare facilities must not accept ongoing multidrug-resistant organism (MDRO) infection outbreaks…as status quo. With selection of infection control measures appropriate to their situation, all facilities can achieve the desired goal and reduce the MDRO burden substantially.”

*Data on file at BD.