This is the largest nationally representative study to date of the toll taken by sepsis and pneumonia, two conditions often caused by deadly microbes, including the antibiotic-resistant bacteria MRSA. Such infections can lead to longer hospital stays, serious complications and even death.
"In many cases, these conditions could have been avoided with better infection control in hospitals," said Ramanan Laxminarayan, Ph.D., principal investigator for Extending the Cure, a project examining antibiotic resistance based at the Washington, D.C. think-tank Resources for the Future.
"Infections that are acquired during the course of a hospital stay cost the United States a staggering amount in terms of lives lost and health care costs," he said. "Hospitals and other health care providers must act now to protect patients from this growing menace."
Laxminarayan and his colleagues analyzed 69 million discharge records from hospitals in 40 states and identified two conditions caused by health care-associated infections: sepsis, a potentially lethal systemic response to infection and pneumonia, an infection of the lungs and respiratory tract.
The researchers looked at infections that developed after hospitalization. They zeroed in on infections that are often preventable, like a serious bloodstream infection that occurs because of a lapse in sterile technique during surgery, and discovered that the cost of such infections can be quite high: For example, people who developed sepsis after surgery stayed in the hospital 11 days longer and the infections cost an extra $33,000 to treat per person.
Even worse, the team found that nearly 20 percent of people who developed sepsis after surgery died as a result of the infection. "That's the tragedy of such cases," said Anup Malani, a study co-author, investigator at Extending the Cure, and professor at the University of Chicago. "In some cases, relatively healthy people check into the hospital for routine surgery. They develop sepsis because of a lapse in infection control—and they can die."
The team also looked at pneumonia, an infection that can set in if a disease-causing microbe gets into the lungs—in some cases when a dirty ventilator tube is used. They found that people who developed pneumonia after surgery, which is also thought to be preventable, stayed in the hospital an extra 14 days. Such cases cost an extra $46,000 per person to treat. In 11 percent of the cases, the patient died as a result of the pneumonia infection.
anonymous on 23 Nov 14Heavy Duty Wheelchair There are many ways in which a person with disabilities and physical mobility issues can get from A to B in this day and age. But bay far the most common method of personal transportation is the humble wheel chair. They come in many different designs as well as sizes, with light, heavy or miedium weighted devices available for specific uses and to cater for the indidual needs of the user. So in this News we'll take a brief look at heavy duty wheelchairs and where they are needed most. This is not an in-depth look, but just an overview with a view to expanding upon this subject at a later date. Buy online Heavy Duty wheelchair for handicapped and disabled at lowest price and cheap cost in india from wheelchair india online shopping store of Heavy Duty wheelchair manufacturer, distributor, dealer and supplier of variety of Karma Heavy Duty wheelchair at low price in india for handicapped and disability product like Karma Heavy Duty Wheelchair. Durability Of course the obvious use for heavy duty wheelchairs are for those users who have become very overweight or obese. This often happens directly due to the lack of exercise that their conditions bring about as it is sometimes simply not possible to engage in any form of meaningful exercise depending upon the severity of the physical handicap suffered by the user. In this case, then a heavy chassis and running gear are needed to cope with the extra weight of the user so that they can still get about in safety and comfort that the more lightweight wheelchairs would not be able to fulfill sufficiently. Strengthening The additional bracing and strengthening that is needed for these types of chairs comes with the trade off that they are in themselves much heavier than regular or lightweight models and are therefore that much more difficult to push around. For this reason, the fitter and stronger helpers are required to assist for safety reasons. In some cases, when a wheelchair use
