Katie Cary, the infection prevention manager, left, tapes Donielle Robertson, the clinical nurse coordinator for the adult emergency room, at Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center into her gown as they practiced safe procedures in October for “donning and doffing” of the medical protection gear in the event they begin treating Ebola patients at the Denver hospital. (Denver Post Photo by Cyrus McCrimmon)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that U.S. hospitals, including Colorado’s, have made progress overall since 2008 in the battle to eliminate infections that commonly threaten hospital patients.
Through 2013, the most recent year for which data are available, hospitals nationwide saw a 46 percent decrease in central-line-associated bloodstream infections, according to a CDC report released Jan. 22.
The Healthcare-Associated Infection Progress Report consists of national and state-by-state summaries of healthcare-associated infections.
Colorado’s 52 participating hospitals had a lower composite rate of central-line-associated bloodstream infections in the baseline year, 2008, compared with the national standardized infection ratio. It was not significantly different from the improved national standard in 2013.
The CDC says its Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAI) progress report is that hospitals are required to report to CDC.
For the first time, this year’s HAI progress report includes state-specific data about hospital lab-identified methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections and Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections (severe, even deadly diarrhea).
The CDC reports an 8 percent decrease nationwide in hospital-onset MRSA bacteremia between 2011 and 2013 and a 10 percent decrease in C. difficile infections between 2011 and 2013.
While Colorado hospitals compared favorably to the national rate in terms of MRSA infections, the state’s facilities were significantly worse than the national standard when comparing C. difficile infections in the baseline year of 2011 with 2013.
The HAI Progress Report describes significant reductions reported at the national level in 2013 for nearly all infections. Surgical-site infections showed a 19 percent reduction in 10 procedures tracked in the report between 2008 and 2013. Colorado’s progress in reducing these infections was on track or significantly better than the national standard, the CDC reports.
However, the report shows a 6 percent increase in catheter-associated urinary tract infections between 2009 and 2013, “signaling a strong need for additional prevention efforts,” the CDC said. Although, initial data from 2014 seem to indicate that these infections have started to decrease. Colorado’s infection rate was lower, or better, than the national standardized infection ratio.
More than 14,500 hospitals and other healthcare facilities provide data to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network for this report.
“Despite progress, the nation did not reach the 2013 goals,” the CDC says. “More action is needed at every level of public health and health care to improve patient safety and eliminate infections that commonly threaten hospital patients.”
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