CDC Urges Hospitals to Tackle Drug-Resistant Infections
Source: DOW JONES NEWSWIRES, October 19, 2006

U.S. hospital infections kill 90,000 a year and cost $4.5 billion, the CDC said. It urged better sanitation and a more-conservative use of antibiotics

WASHINGTON -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday released new guidelines on how to reduce drug-resistant infections in hospitals and urged the industry to make the issue a priority.

According to the CDC, around 2 million people acquire infections in hospitals per year, resulting in 90,000 deaths.

Antimicrobial resistance happens when bacteria changes or adapts in a way that allows them to survive in the presence of antibiotics designed to kill them.

While drug-resistant infections can happen anywhere to anyone, they are more frequent among people in hospitals and health-care facilities who have weakened immune systems.

Under the new guidelines, hospitals should ensure that prevention programs are funded and properly staffed, should track infection rates and related data, and should promote education campaigns on the issue, among other things.

If those recommendations don't work, hospitals must implement more stringent measures, including screening of all patients at high risk for carrying drug-resistance bacteria, said John Jernigan, chief of the Intervention and Evaluation Section of the CDC's Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, during a briefing to announce the new guidelines.

The CDC has issued other recommendations on the issue in the past, but the new ones are more complete and allow institutions to tailor approaches based on their individual problems and needs.

Dr. Jernigan said that although steps needed to control infections are simple, they aren't as easily implemented.

"What we are asking today is simple, but not simple to be achieved," he said. "Reducing rates will take time, resources and dedication."

The CDC estimates that hospital infections account for $4.5 billion in excess health-care costs annually.

Health experts who spoke at the briefing said those costs are higher than what hospitals would spend to prevent the problem.

Many times, they said, infection can be avoided by simple hand-washing, not only by the medical staff, but also by people visiting patients.