Hospital-Acquired Infection A High Risk For Patients In India

Dr Victor D Rosenthal, Founder and Chairman of The International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) speaks to Prathiba Raju on increasing risk and adverse effect of hospital acquired infection and AMR among patients in India

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What is nosocomial infection control and what are the measures to control it?

Nosocomial infections are also referred to as Hospitalacquired Infection (HAI). Measures to control the infections comprise of identifying patients at risk of getting infected, evaluating hand hygiene practices, monitoring and surveillance of medical instruments such as vascular catheters, respiratory tubes, and other hospital gear. Additionally, behavioural change is an important component for controlling the spread of HAIs along with proper training to healthcare workers when dealing with patients.

The hospital settings are at a highest risk of acquiring these infections especially the intensive care units and operating theatres. Hence, it is of umpteen importance that control measures are practiced to stop the infection spread. The breeding ground for such infections can also be nursing homes, rehabilitation centres, the healthcare staff, susceptible patients, contaminated equipment and devices, bed linens, air droplets along with contaminated food and water.

How Device Associated Hospital Acquired Infections (DA-HAIs) are among the principal threat to patient safety and is the main causes of patient morbidity and mortality? What is the status in India?

Patients in the ICU can get infected with diseases like pneumonia, bloodstream infection and urinary tract infection (UTI) due to contamination. Some of the most life-threatening bacteria that infects the ICUs are Acinetobacter, Pseudomonas, and Klebsiella.