ECDC highlight HAIs as “major public health problem”

The European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control has urged hospitals to step up the fight against HAIs, which affect over 3 million patients in Europe every year.

Source: ECDC

With over three million patients contracting an infection while in hospital in Europe every year, the ECDC has labelled HAIs as a “major public health problem” and called for hospitals to take up more prevention methods.

The comments from the Stockholm-based European Centre for Diseases Prevention and Control come following a point prevalence survey in healthcare associated infections in hospitals. The results showed that one in 18 patients in European hospitals has at least one healthcare-associated infection.

Marc Sprenger, ECDC Director, said: “The survey confirms that healthcare-associated infections pose a major public health problem and a threat to European patients: ECDC estimates that on any given day, about 80,000 patients, i.e. one in 18 patients, in European hospitals have at least one healthcare-associated infection.

“ Overall, this amounts to an estimated total of 3.2 million patients (95% confidence interval: from 1.9 to 5.2 million) each year.”
One if the causes behind the sustained threat of HAIs is the use of antibiotics to treat them. Patients begin to build up a resistance and they lose their effectiveness.

Mr Sprenger added: “Many of these infections could be prevented by sustained, multifaceted infection prevention and control programmes, including surveillance of healthcare-associated infections. Such programmes, as well as prudent use of antibiotics, will help all actors involved to protect the patients of European hospitals.”

Advanced Sterilization Products are committed in the fight against HAIs and offer prevention solutions to kill the bacteria that affect so many patients in Europe, as this survey shows.