Another Leading Cause of Death in the US
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A Nando Media report released yesterday took a look at ways to decrease the incidence of hospital-acquired infection in the US. There has been much news regarding the 44,000 to 98,000 deaths per year due to medical error and here is a number to add to that figure.According to the report, "infections contracted in hospitals kill as many as 88,000 people each year." Two doctors that had interesting things to say in the report are Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, and Dr. William Jarvis. Dr. Richard P. Wenzel, chairman of the internal medicine department at the Medical College of Virginia stated (using what he called conservative estimates) that bloodstream infections contracted at health care facilities could be the eighth leading cause of death in the US, claiming more than 25,000 people each year. Dr. William Jarvis, with the CDC's Hospital Infection Program, estimates that about 88,000 people die each year directly from infections contracted in health care facilities with about 2 million Americans contracting an infection each year while in a hospital or other medical facility. It was only a few months ago that medical error was reported as the eighth leading cause of death in the US and it appears as though medical error has some growing compitition from hospital-acquired infection.
UPDATE: Medical Error is now reported as being the fifth leading cause of death in the US. 3/6/2000 Nando Media Link: Technology, hygiene keys to lowering hospital infections, researcher says
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