Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) are a sad reality of visiting a healthcare facility, and nearly 1-3 of these illnesses can be prevented. How can you prevent HAIs and Food Borne Illnesses?

1. Healthcare Associated Infections
and Food Borne Illness

2. HAIs
Cost of Health Care Associated Infections
Approximately 1 in 10 patients acquire a HAI after admission, totaling more than 2
million cases each year. At least one-third of these infections are preventable, and
hand washing is the single most important procedure for prevention. (CDC)
Nearly 100,000 deaths a year result from HAIs, & this number continues to grow. (APIC)
In the United States, HAIs add an estimated $30.5 billion in annual costs to the
nation’s health care system. (Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths)

3. HAIs
The average stay for patients with HAIs diagnosed in the hospital is 23 days; the average
stay for patients without infections is 5 days. (American Journal of Medical Quality)
Patients who acquire infections average healthcare costs of approximately $185,000,
compared with less than $32,000 for those who do not acquire infections.
(Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council)
HAIs are among the top five causes of death in the United States. (HealthNews Digest)

4. HAIs
Approximately 3 million cases of Clostridium difficile are reported each year in the
US, costing more than $1.3 billion. (Washington University School of Medicine, CDC)
In 2005, there were about 368,600 cases of MRSA infection in US hospitals. In 1993,
there were fewer than 2,000 MRSA infections recorded in US hospitals.
(Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)

5. Food Borne Illness
The CDC estimates that 76 million Food Borne illness, or food poisoning, cases
occur in the United States every year, which means that one in four Americans
contracts a Food Borne illness annually after eating foods contaminated with
such pathogens.
Approximately 325,000 people are hospitalized with a diagnosis of food poisoning,
and 5,000 die. The estimated costs in terms of medical expenses and lost wages or
productivity are between $6.5 and $34.9 billion.

6. Food Borne Illness
While most Food Borne illness cases go unreported to health departments,
nearly 13.8 million cases are reported and diagnosed by their cause:
Viruses cause 67% of cases
Bacteria cause 30% of cases
Parasites cause 3% of cases