The National Burden of Healthcare-Associated Infections

Healthcare-associated infections are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. To assess the overall burden and distribution of such infections across acute care patient populations, researchers conducted a multistate point-prevalence survey.

Acute care hospitals in 10 geographically diverse states were included. Both general and pediatric acute care facilities were recruited to participate, and hospital size (small, medium, large, based on number of beds) was determined. Eligible hospitals were randomly selected within each size category. The selected institutions participated in a one-day survey in 2011 in which data were collected for a random sample of eligible inpatients. Healthcare-associated infections were defined accordin…