One in 12 children in hospital catch infections

Posted 11/06/2012

A recent survey of more than 50,000 patients at more than 100 hospitals nationwide has found that 1 in 16 people contracted an infection associated with their healthcare. The hospital-acquired infections were respiratory such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections and surgical site infections.The survey was also extended to children and found that 1 in 20 children aged under 15 had a hospital acquired infection rising to 1 in 5 in very sick children.Generally speaking the overall number of infections are in decline, however doctors are concerned that many bugs are becoming resistant to antibiotics due to overprescription.Sharon Allison, a medical injury lawyer at Ashtons Legal says: “There has been a clear decline over the years in the numbers of patients contracting the likes of MRSA and Clostridium Difficile whilst in hospital but there is still evidence that cross-contamination continues to happen despite all of the education and training.””Hospital acquired infections are a huge challenge to the NHS and requires persistent policies and guidelines to enforce effective infection control.”