WHO: ICU Patients Acquiring Infections Increasingly Resistant to Antibiotics

Roughly 30 percent of critically ill patients in intensive care units will acquire a healthcare-associated infection, according to new survey data released by the World Health Organization (WHO). An increasing number of these infections are resistant to antibiotics, the organization added.

Of every 100 patients admitted to a hospital, at least seven of them in high-income countries, and 10 in low-to-middle-income countries, will acquire an infection, the WHO said May 2. To cut down on the rising problem of drug-resistant infections, the WHO is urging health workers to practice good hand hygiene when caring for patients.

The recommendation comes on the heels of the WHO’s findings released last week that confirmed resistance is very common in bacteria that is isolated to healthcare facilities. For the deadly Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria, for example, drug resistance is as high as 44 percent in Latin America, 40 percent West African countries and 38 percent in Europe, the WHO said.

“There is clear scientific evidence that good hand hygiene by health workers reduces healthcare-associated infections caused by resistant germs, in particular by MRSA,” Professor Benedetta Allegranzi, technical lead of the WHO Clean Care is Safer Care program, said in a statement. — Neal Learner

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