WHAT IS AN HOSPITAL ACQUIRED INFECTION?

Designed by mrsiraphol / Freepik

Media periodically report alarming headings about statistics of deaths following a hospital infection.

But how is it possible to contract infections in a health resort like the hospital?

We have seen in our previous articles how infections spread inside our body.

In hospitals, many patients with various diseases, including infectious ones, are hospitalized and assisted.

In order to minimize the spread of bacteria and viruses, there are specific hygiene, cleaning and sterilization procedures for any situation of intervention and verification of the patient’s state of health.

However, situations can arise in which this risk cannot be avoided. The reasons for this are the most disparate. Furthermore, the low level of defense capacity of a debilitated body following an illness or other incidental event can serve as a contributory cause and allow the spread of infections in a body that is already unable to defend itself effectively.

In hospitals and nursing centers in general, there are committees composed of internal staff, organized to periodically verify the incidence of risk situations and cases generated by material errors, technical failures, incompetence, etc.

Even within health facilities, the first rule to follow is to always keep your hands clean. In addition, operators – as well as visitors – should not enter the hospital if they do not enjoy good health, in order to avoid spreading bacteria and viruses to those hospitalized and unfortunately more receptive.

In the next episodes, we will dive more deeply into this important issue in the aspects concerning the health of citizens and operators.