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What Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection? Symptoms, Transmission and Prevention
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Despite all developments in modern medicine, hospital-acquired infections both threaten patient health and complicate the treatment process.
What Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection?
A hospital-acquired infection, medically known as a nosocomial infection, refers to infections that occur in patients who are hospitalized or receiving treatment and are acquired in the hospital environment.
According to the World Health Organization, hospital-acquired infections are a serious problem, especially in intensive care units. Infections that generally develop 48 hours after hospitalization and were not present beforehand are evaluated in this group.
How Is a Hospital-Acquired Infection Transmitted?
It occurs when microorganisms in the hospital environment are transmitted to patients through direct or indirect routes. Transmission routes are diverse.
- Healthcare workers’ hands are among the most important factors in transferring microorganisms between patients. Interventions performed without proper glove use or hand hygiene may increase infection risk.
- Invasive medical devices and procedures such as catheters, intravenous needles, ventilators and urinary catheters may allow microorganisms to enter the body. Prolonged or non-sterile use increases infection rates.
- Inadequately sterilized medical instruments, surfaces and shared areas may allow microorganisms to spread. Contamination of hospital rooms and intensive care units increases the risk of cross-transmission.
- Postoperative surgical wound infections may also occur. Failure to follow sterilization rules before, during and after surgery may lead to surgical site infections.
- Some microorganisms may also spread through airborne or droplet transmission; this risk is more evident in intensive care units and in patients with weakened immune systems.
- Prolonged hospitalization and antibiotic use may lead to colonization of different body areas and the intestinal flora with resistant microorganisms. In this way, hospital-acquired infections may also develop from the patient’s own body flora.
You can contact us for evaluation about hospital-acquired infections and infection control.
Book an AppointmentWhat Are the Most Common Hospital-Acquired Infections?
Among the most common hospital-acquired infections, urinary tract infections are one of the leading groups. The risk is higher especially in patients using urinary catheters.
Another common condition is hospital-acquired pneumonia.
It develops more often in patients connected to ventilators in intensive care units.
Surgical site infections encountered after surgery are also an important group. They may present with redness, swelling, pain or inflammation at the surgical wound and may prolong healing. Bloodstream infections may occur in patients using long-term intravenous catheters.
- Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
- Pneumonia (hospital-acquired pneumonia)
- Surgical site infections
- Bloodstream infections
What Are the Symptoms of Hospital-Acquired Infection?
Symptoms of hospital-acquired infection may vary depending on the type of infection and which organ is affected. However, some findings are common in many patients.
The most common symptom is high fever. Fever is often accompanied by chills, weakness and deterioration in general condition.
- Postoperative infections: redness, swelling, pain, increased warmth and purulent discharge at the wound site
- Ventilator-associated pneumonia in intensive care patients: respiratory distress, increased or thickened secretions and fever
- Bloodstream infections: sudden fever, chills and weakness
- Urinary tract infections: burning while urinating, frequent urination and flank pain
Who Is at Higher Risk?
The risk of hospital-acquired infection is much higher in some patient groups. Patients treated in intensive care units and those with weakened immune systems form the highest-risk group. In people using catheters, intravenous needles or ventilators for a long time, microorganisms can enter the body more easily and infection risk increases. Prolonged hospitalization, procedures that disrupt body integrity and antibiotic use also increase the risk.
In addition, people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, kidney failure and chronic lung diseases have higher infection risk due to weakened immunity. Older patients, newborns, people receiving cancer treatment and organ transplant recipients are also more susceptible to hospital-acquired infections. Early diagnosis and prevention are critical for treatment success in these groups.
What Are the Prevention Methods?
A large proportion of these infections can be prevented with simple but effective measures.
The most basic prevention method is hand hygiene. Healthcare workers washing their hands or using appropriate disinfectant before and after each patient contact largely prevents the spread of microorganisms. In addition, using disposable materials and properly disinfecting or sterilizing medical instruments reduce infection risk.
Catheters, intravenous needles and ventilators should be used only when necessary and removed as soon as possible. After surgery, the surgical area should be protected with sterile dressings and checked regularly. Regular disinfection of hospital rooms, intensive care units and shared areas is one of the most important steps in preventing cross-transmission.
Patients and relatives also play an important role by following hygiene rules, limiting the number of visitors and acting consciously. Patients who require isolation should be followed according to the appropriate isolation type, such as contact, droplet or airborne isolation, and healthcare staff and visitors should comply with the specified rules.
In short, hygiene, sterilization and conscious medical practices are essential for preventing hospital-acquired infections.
Treatment of Hospital-Acquired Infections
Treatment of hospital-acquired infections is planned according to the type of infection, the patient’s general health condition and which organ is affected. The most important step is accurately identifying the microorganism causing the infection. For this purpose, blood, urine, sputum or wound cultures and laboratory tests are performed.
Microorganisms that cause hospital-acquired infections are often difficult to treat and may be resistant to multiple drugs. Medication is selected according to the microorganism and its resistance profile. Unnecessary or incorrect antibiotic use can make treatment more difficult and may lead to further antibiotic resistance. Therefore, treatment must be carried out under specialist physician supervision.
Supportive treatments are also important; reducing fever, fluid support, respiratory support or wound care can support the patient’s recovery process.
Early Evaluation Is Important in Infection Symptoms
Specialist evaluation is required if fever, chills, redness at the wound site, urinary symptoms, respiratory distress or deterioration in general condition occurs.
