Chicago Accident and Injury Lawyer Blog

A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that health-care associated infections, such as pneumonia and sepsis affect 1.7 million hospital patients each year. Nearly 50,000 of those patients die as a result. The researchers of the study, focusing on infections acquired by those patients undergoing elective surgeries, estimated that these infections result in longer hospital stays and cost more than 8 billion each year.

Hospital-acquired infections are typically infections that do not originate from a patient's original admitting diagnosis. Within hours after admission to a hospital, a patient is exposed to the bacteria living in the hospital. As with the prevention of the spread of the common cold and the flu, proper hand-washing and glove-wearing are the two most critical deterrents to spreading hospital-acquired infections. Regardless of whether you are a caregiver in a hospital or just a visitor, it is important to always properly wash your hands. The CDC provides the following guidelines for proper hand-washing:

• Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
• Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
• Continue rubbing hands for 15-20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing "Happy Birthday" twice through to a friend.
• Rinse hands well under running water.
• Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet.
• Always use soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.