The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) have issued a state health care-associated infection report. The new state-by-state breakdown of health care-associated infections shows reductions in infection rates across the country. The report also pinpoints that some medical procedures will require stronger infection prevention efforts to maximize patient safety.

The report includes a summary measure called a standardized infection ratio, which allows tracking of prevention efforts over time. The data in the report were submitted by hospitals to CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, the agency’s premiere infection tracking system used by more than 7,800 health care facilities nationwide as a core tool for preventing health care-associated infections. This is the first time that CDC is releasing a standardized infection ratio for central line-associated bloodstream infections for each of the 50 states. As seen in the report, 21 states had significant decreases in central line-associated bloodstream infections between 2009 and 2010, which has contributed to the progress seen on a national level.

The report also includes a national snapshot of the infection risk linked to ten common surgical procedures. Although nationally there was a decrease in surgical site infections in 2010, only one procedure showed a substantial decrease in infections between 2009 and 2010, which impacted the observed decrease nationally. This procedure, coronary artery bypass grafting, improves blood flow to the heart in people who have severe coronary heart disease.

For a detailed summary of the infection data reported by CDC, click here.

Source: CDC