Guide to Hospital Acquired Infections Brought to You by The MATER PRIVATE HOSPITAL.
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Healthcare-associated infections (HCAIs) are one of the most pressing issues facing our health services today. According to the Health Protection study of 2008, one in 5 patients acquires a HCAI, and those who do contract an infection stay in hospital nearly three times longer than ordinary patients, placing tremendous financial pressure on our already strapped-for-cash health services.
The two hospital acquired infections, known as '
superbugs', posing a particularly serious threat to our hospital wards are
MRSA and
C. difficile. MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and is a form of bacteria from the Staphylococcus aureus (SA) family. If SA bacteria get into the body via cuts or wounds they can cause a boil or abscess and more seriously blood poisoning or a heart-valve infection. Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) is a bacterium from the Clostridium family causing diarrhoea, and in more serious cases damage to the colon and intestines.
Many experts believe that the misuse of antibiotics has caused the drug-resistant SA infections to occur (if a course of treatment is not finished some of the bacteria can multiply and survive a range of antibiotics) and the high turnover of patients and high bed occupancy rates in our health services compound the problem.
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