Hospital Infection Statistics

Hospital infections linked to 48,000 deaths in 2006.
The Los Angeles Times (2/22, Kaplan) "Booster Shots" blog reported that research "published in Monday's edition of Archives of Internal Medicine estimates that 48,000 people died in 2006 after developing sepsis or pneumonia during their hospital stays."
AFP (2/23) reports that "the two hospital-acquired infections...account for about one-third of the 1.7 million infections US patients pick up every year while in hospital, the study...shows." Furthermore, "they are...responsible for nearly half of the 99,000 deaths a year from hospital-acquired infections reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)." The researchers "found that patients who underwent invasive surgery during their initial hospitalization were more likely to pick up a secondary infection while in hospital, and elective surgery patients were at even higher risk of nosocomial infection." The Wall Street Journal (2/22, Landro) "Health Blog," Reuters (2/23), WebMD (2/22, DeNoon), and Healthcare IT News (2/22, Monegain) also covered the story.