Central line-associated bloodstream infections, surgical site infections down according to CDC
US hospitals are showing real progress in decreasing the number of certain healthcare-associated infections (HAI) according to a report released Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The battle against central line-associated bloodstream infections and some surgical site infections in hospitals is very promising. Other HAIs like urinary tract infections remain unchanged during the reporting period.
More specifically, the CDC reported in 2011:
- A 41 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections since 2008, up from the 32 percent reduction reported in 2010. Progress in preventing these infections was seen in intensive care units (ICU), wards, and neonatal ICUs in all reporting facilities. A central line is a tube that is placed in a large vein of a patient’s neck or chest to give important medical treatment. When not put in correctly or kept clean, central lines can become a route for germs to enter the body and cause serious bloodstream infections.
- A 17 percent reduction in surgical site infections since 2008, up from the 7 percent reduction reported in 2010.This improvement was not evident for all procedure types, and there is still substantial opportunity for improvement across a range of operative procedures.
- A 7 percent reduction in catheter-associated urinary tract infections since 2009, which is the same percentage of reduction that was reported in 2010. While there were modest reductions in infections among patients in general wards, there was essentially no reduction in infections reported in critical care locations.
“Reductions in some of the deadliest health care-associated infections are encouraging, especially when you consider the costs to both patients and the health care system,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “This report also suggests that hospitals need to increase their efforts to track these infections and implement control strategies that we know work.”
Image/CDC
Patrick Conway, chief medical officer of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said, “The significant decrease in central line and surgical site infections means that thousands of patients avoid prolonged hospitalizations and the risk of dying in the hospital. Providers, working with CDC and CMS, are fulfilling Medicare’s quality measurement reporting requirements for hospital infections and demonstrating that, together, we can dramatically improve the safety and quality of care for patients.”
The report looked at data submitted to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), CDC’s premiere infection tracking system, which receives data from more than 11,500 health care facilities across all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The number of infections reported was compared with data from 2010, as well as with a national baseline.
For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
Looking for a job in health care? Check here to see what’s available
[…] Central line-associated bloodstream infections, s… The Global Dispatch A 41 percent reduction in central line-associated bloodstream infections since 2008, up from the 32 percent reduction reported in 2010. […]