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Hundreds of thousands become infected annually in the hospital

2019-11-15T13:41:06.336Z


Every year, 10,000 to 20,000 people die as a result of infections that they have taken at the hospital. Five diseases are particularly common.



According to current estimates, about 400,000 to 600,000 hospital infections occur annually in Germany. A new study published by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) thus confirms previous projections. The number of deaths caused by hospital germs is estimated at 10,000 to 20,000 per year. So far, a maximum of 15,000 deaths from hospital infections were assumed.

For the study, RKI scientists, together with the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the Berlin Charité, have investigated data on five diseases:

  • pneumonia
  • urinary tract infections
  • wound infections
  • Sepsis , blood poisoning
  • Diarrheal diseases caused by the pathogen Clostridium difficile

Together, they account for nearly 80 percent of hospital-acquired infections. In general, according to the RKI, it is difficult to detect deaths from so-called nosocomial infections. Many patients are therefore suffering from severe underlying diseases that lead to death even without hospital infection.

250,000 years less

According to the study, the proportion of patients who get an infection in the hospital is around 3.6 percent lower in Germany than the EU average (5.5 percent). In terms of the total population, however, more people are hospitalized in Germany than in the European average.

As a result, around 500 to 650 patients per 100,000 inhabitants suffer from a hospital infection every year, compared with 450 to 500 per 100,000 inhabitants in the EU average. The years of life lost by illness and death due to such infections are estimated at almost 250,000 per year for Germany.

According to the RKI, one major reason for the higher burden of disease in Germany is the larger number of inpatients and hospital beds. Germany has the highest number of hospital beds in Europe and the second highest number of hospital patients per 1000 inhabitants per year.

Large part of hospital infections preventable

The numbers of hospital infections in Germany are partly controversial. Other estimates go beyond the official figures. The German Society for Hospital Hygiene has in the past considered nosocomial infections of at least one million a year as realistic, resulting in at least 30,000 deaths per year.

Hospital infections, a significant part of which are preventable, have been a much discussed topic for years. Only a part of this is due to multidrug-resistant bacteria, against which almost no antibiotic acts and which are an increasing problem in clinics.

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Infection riskTherefore, dangerous germs get to the hospital

Resistance leads to bacterial infections becoming more difficult or even impossible to treat because antibiotics lose their effectiveness. The consequences are longer and significantly more severe illnesses and deaths.

It is estimated that there are 30,000 to 35,000 hospital infections with multidrug-resistant pathogens in Germany. In most cases it is the resistant to Mmthillicin Staphylococcus aureus - MRSA short. This bacterial strain can cause serious to fatal infections.

For healthy people, MRSA is generally harmless. For immunocompromised patients in intensive care units, cancer patients, surgery patients, premature babies or people with chronic wounds, however, multidrug-resistant pathogens can become life-threatening and, among other things, trigger pneumonia, wound and urinary tract infections or blood poisoning.

The European Court of Auditors has recently called on the European Union to step up its fight against resistant germs. "Antimicrobial resistance is a serious threat to public health," said auditor-in-charge Nikolaos Milionis on Friday. So far, little is said that previous efforts to control resistant bacteria could reduce the risks to the population.

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2019-11-15

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