What is a nosocomial infection?
A nosocomial infection is just a fancy way of saying an infection caught while staying in the hospital. These infections can be caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi or other agents. Infamous bacteria caught in the hospital are: pneumonia, Staphlylococci, pseudomonads, enterococci, and E.coli.
Infection may begin with a surgical wound or simply be spread through the air and breathed in, but with weakened defenses, these infections, that normal healthy individuals would fight off, cause serious illness and death.
It is estimated that nosocomial infections are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States and that there is a five per cent attack rate among patients in the hospital according to Dr. Wenzel and Dr. Edmond in an article published in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases peer-reviewed online journal.
Why are nosocomial infections hard to treat?
Infections caught in hospitals tend to be more difficult to treat because many bacteria, for example, can become resistant to the many antibiotics used in the hospital setting. The bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii has caught the attention of many recently because it has caused some extremely drug resistant nosocomial infections in troops coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan, but A.baumannii causes only about 1 per cent of all nosocomial infections in the United States. Patients already weakened by other illnesses are more susceptible to becoming ill from bacteria and viruses than healthy individuals, such as health care personnel. Nosocomial infections can even be the cause of death in individuals who were hospitalized for other reasons.
What are the causes of an increase in nosocomial infections?
Approximately one third of nosocomial infections are preventable. Nosocomial infections are increased by:
- Increasing antibiotic use spurring antibiotic resistance in many bacteria making them difficult to treat.
- Sloppy hygiene by health care personnel, especially in the emergency care unit where they rush to care for patients.
- Aging population and immuno-compromised individuals (such as those living with HIV/AIDS) more susceptible to catching infections.
- Aging hospitals needing renovations causing dust and debris possible leading to the spread of fungi.
- Hospitals being full of very sick people as less serious diseases are increasingly attended to on an out-patient basis.
What can be done to prevent nosocomial infections?
There is not a lot a patient can do to prevent a nosocomial infection, but you may insist on health care personnel washing their hands properly before attending to you and make sure the patients also wash hands properly frequently and especially before and after eating and using the toilet.
Hospitals always have some kind of policy in place to prevent nosocomial infections which may include:
- Specially ventilated isolation wards for patients with highly contagious diseases such as tuberculosis.
- Encouraging hand washing by placing hand washing stations in many places around the hospitals including alcohol hand rubs.
- Making the hospital floors, walls and ceiling easy to clean and disinfect.
- Putting more distance between patients.
- Ensuring proper disinfection and sterile procedure in the operation room.
- Continuing to investigate ways to practice non-invasive surgeries and procedures to reduce the risk of bugs gaining access to patients via IV’s and surgical incisions.
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Sources:
Weinstein, Robert A. Nosocomial Infection Update. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol. 4. No.3 July-September 1998.
Wenzel, Richard P., Edmond, Michael B. The Impact of Hospital-Acquired Bloodstream Infections. Emerging Infectious Diseases. Vol 7. No 2. March-April 2001.