What are common health care-associated infections?

Among the most common health care-associated infections are the following:

• Central line-associated bloodstream infections: Central lines are “catheters that doctors place in a large vein in the neck, chest, or groin to give medication or fluids or to collect blood for medical tests.” Central line-associated bloodstream infections are infections that occur when germs enter the bloodstream through a central line. (Source: www.cdc.gov/hai/bsi/clabsi-resources.html)

• Clostridium difficile infections: Clostridium difficile infections result from the Clostridium difficile bacterium. This pathogen is shed in feces, and “any surface, device, or material that becomes contaminated with feces may serve as a reservoir for the Clostridium difficile spores.” These spores are usually transferred to patients “via the hands of health care personnel who have touched a contaminated surface or item.” (Source: www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/cdiff/cdiff_faqs_hcp.html)

• Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infections: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (pronounced mursa in the US) is a staph bacteria that is one of the most serious types of health care-associated infections. “MRSA is usually spread by direct contact with an infected wound or from contaminated hands, usually those of health care providers.” MRSA can result in serious illness, including bloodstream infections, pneumonia, and surgical site infections, as well as sepsis and death. Because of their ability to resist the healing effects of common antibiotics such as methicillin, penicillin, and amoxicillin MRSA and other pathogens like it represent one of the most serious challenges for health care professionals and infection control experts. (Source: www.cdc.gov/mrsa/healthcare/index.html)

• Surgical site infections: A surgical site infection is “an infection that occurs after surgery in the part of the body where the surgery took place.” “Surgical site infections can sometimes be superficial infections involving the skin only.” Other surgical site infections are more serious and can involve the organs, tissues under the skin, and medical devices that have been implanted in a person’s body. (Source: www.cdc.gov/hai/ssi/faq_ssi.html)

• Urinary tract infections, including catheter-associated urinary tract infections: Urinary tract infections, or UTIs, are the most common type of health care-associated infection and can involve any of the organs or structures of the urinary tract, including the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. Included in the larger group of UTIs are catheter-associated UTIs, which occur “when germs (usually bacteria) enter the urinary tract through [a] urinary catheter and cause infection.” (Source: www.cdc.gov/hai/ca_uti/cauti_faqs.html)

• Ventilator-associated events, including pneumonia: Ventilator-associated events can be the unintended consequence of putting a patient on a ventilator, “a machine that is used to help a patient breathe by giving oxygen through a tube placed in the patient’s mouth or nose, or through a hole in the front of the neck.” Patients often need ventilators when they are very sick or during and after surgery, and ventilators can be life-saving. However, ventilators can also “increase a patient’s chance of getting pneumonia by making it easier for germs to get into the patient’s lungs.” If germs enter a patient’s lungs through the ventilator, an infection such as pneumonia can occur. (Source: www.cdc.gov/hai/vap/vap_faqs.html)