Hospitals Make Progress in Reducing Infections
Hospitals are making progress in reducing health care-associated infections, but additional work is still needed, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Central line-associated bloodstream infections declined by 46 percent between 2008 and 2013. During the same period, the incidence of surgical-site infections related to 10 select procedures declined by 19 percent. And between 2011 and 2013, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections decreased by 8 percent. Since 2009, catheter-associated urinary tract infections have increased by 6 percent, although the CDC reports that initial data from 2014 seem to indicate that these infections have started to decrease.