New progress report on HAI incidence shows decreases in some areas

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) newly published 2017 National and State Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Progress Report delivers both good and not-so-good news for patients and providers. The report includes outcomes data from acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and long-term acute care hospitals. According to the CDC, every day one in 31 patients develop at least one infection related to the care they receive in a healthcare facility.

Progress in the latest report is based on information from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) on central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated events (VAEs), surgical site infections (SSIs), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, and Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) events. Nationally, among acute care hospitals between 2016 and 2017, highlights in the report include:

·         About 9 percent decrease in CLABSIs

·         About 5 percent decrease in CAUTIs

·         About 3 percent decrease in VAEs

·         No significant changes in abdominal hysterectomy SSIs

·         No significant changes in colon surgery SSIs

·         About 8 percent decrease in MRSA bacteremia

·         About 13 percent decrease in C. difficile infections

Visit CDC’s HAI website for more information about the 2017 HAI Progress Report, including methods and technical tables or commonly asked questions.