Spreading Antibiotic resistance and the role of hospitals in curtailing this problem - World Health Day 2011

Indian hospitals are going to need special precautions to prevent the spread of the antibiotic resistant bacteria across India. Over crowding, improper waste disposal, inappropriate use of antibiotic use without guidance will be focused more and more as the cause of spread of bacterial resistance. Frequent hand washing in the hospitals would be an important measure to reduce the spread of the resistant bacteria across the different wards in the hospitals. In the other countries such as USA and Europe Hospital-acquired infections are a major challenge to patient safety. It is estimated that in 2002, a total of 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections occurred (4.5 per 100 admissions), and almost 99,000 deaths resulted from or were associated with a hospital-acquired infection, making hospital-acquired infections the sixth leading cause of death in the United States; similar data have been reported from Europe. The estimated costs to the U.S. health care budget are $5 billion to $10 billion annually. Approximately one third or more of hospital-acquired infections are preventable.