cover story Despite Modest Progress on Lowering HAI Rates Since the Pandemic , IP & C Challenges Persist
cover story Despite Modest Progress on Lowering HAI Rates Since the Pandemic , IP & C Challenges Persist
the subsequent years since the
In COVID-19 pandemic first began , the rates of healthcare-acquired infections ( HAIs ) have fluctuated , due in part to the singular focus on SARS-CoV-2 , but also because of waning complications of supply chain shortages that impacted personal protective equipment ( PPE ) and other supplies , compounded by staffing challenges , and then a resumed re-dedication to evidence-based infection prevention and control ( IP & C ) practices .
The year 2022 ( for which the latest data are available ) showed progress in preventing several important HAIs in U . S . acute-care hospitals ( ACHs ). This progress is the first of its kind since the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 and reverses a trend of spiking HAIs documented by Lastinger , et al . ( 2023 ).
Late last year , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) released the 2022 National and State Healthcare-Associated Infections Progress Report showing that some healthcare settings saw no change or increases in infections , ACHs reported decreases in some HAIs between 2021 and 2022 :
By Kelly M . Pyrek
• Central line-associated bloodstream infections ( CLABSI ) decreased by 9 percent
• The largest decrease was in ICUs ( 21 percent )
• The largest increase was in NICUs ( 11 percent )
• Catheter-associated urinary tract infections ( CAUTI ) decreased by 12 percent
• The largest decrease was in ICUs ( 27 percent )
• Ventilator-associated events ( VAE ) decreased 19 percent
• There was about an 18-percent decrease observed in ICUs
• There was about an about a 37-percent decrease observed in non-ICUs
• Hospital-onset methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus ( MRSA ) bacteremia decreased 16 percent
• Hospital-onset Clostridioides difficile ( CDI ) decreased 3 percent
• Surgical site infections ( SSI ) following abdominal hysterectomy and colon surgery had no significant changes
12 • www . healthcarehygienemagazine . com • january 2024