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Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are responsible for an estimated 6,774 deaths each year in Spain, according to a large study published yesterday in Eurosurveillance. That number is more than three times the number of deaths caused by car accidents in the country each year.
HAIs are infections patients acquire while receiving care for other conditions in a health care setting. The analysis, based on data from 107,781 hospitalized patients in 2022 and 2023, found that roughly eight of every 100 patients acquired a HAI. Thirty-day mortality among patients with HAIs was 11.0%, compared with 5.7% among those without infections. Patients with HAIs had a 70% higher risk of death than those without infection.
Overall, 41.2% of deaths among patients who had a HAI were attributable to the infection itself. Across all hospitalized patients, 3.2% of deaths were attributable to HAIs.
50% of HAIs are considered preventable
Respiratory infections were the most common HAIs (26%), followed by surgical site infections (22%) and urinary tract infections (18%). Respiratory infections, bloodstream infections, and urinary tract infections were the most deadly; pneumonia was associated with a nearly threefold increased odds of death (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 2.92), while bacterial bloodstream infections were linked to a roughly 70% increase in mortality risk (AOR, 1.68).
The authors note that at least half of HAIs could be prevented and emphasize the need for strengthened infection-prevention measures.
“HAIs constitute the most important complication for inpatients in Spain and while not being an official cause of death, the number of deaths they resulted in was comparable to other relevant causes, such as road traffic accidents (1,750) or breast cancer (6,492),” write the authors. “Given that 50% of HAIs are considered preventable, it is reasonable to expect that, with full implementation and compliance with infection prevention and control measures, up to half of HAI-related deaths could be avoided.”