MINIMIZING NOSOCOMIAL INFECTIONS

Defined as an infection after a patient is admitted to a healthcare facility, hospital-acquired infections (HAI) or nosocomial infections are absent at admission.

Various microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, typically cause these infections. Hospital-acquired infections can affect both patients and healthcare workers.

One of the most common wards where HAIs occur in a hospital setting is the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where doctors treat many critical diseases and conditions. HAIs infect about one in every 25 hospital patients. Over 1.4 million people around the globe suffer from infectious complications acquired in hospitals, which leads to a significant number of fatalities and hospital costs.

Today, with medical communities becoming complex as they are equipped to treat major diseases and antibiotic resistance increasing in patients, cases of HAI will continue to grow; however, the good news is that HAIs can be prevented with the right amount of awareness and prevention techniques.

COMMON HAI TYPES

The common conditions for an infection to be classified as HAI must fall into:

• The infection should occur up to 48 hours after hospital admission .
• The infection must have happened up to three days after discharge or 30 days after an operation
• The infection must have appeared in a healthcare facility when the patient was admitted for reasons other than the HAI .