A hospital infection is an infection that a person gets while staying as a patient in a hospital or other healthcare facility. Hospital infections are also sometimes referred to as healthcare-associated infections (HAI) or nosocomial infections. An infection that occurs more than 48 hours after a person is admitted to the hospital is usually considered to be a hospital infection, because the person most likely did not have the infection before being admitted.

Although it's not a problem you may have heard much about, hospital infections are one of the biggest public health issues facing society today. Every year, an estimated 1.7 million Americans get a hospital infection, and 99,000 people die as a result of these infections. In Pennsylvania, more than 30,000 people had a hospital infection in 2006, and patients with hospital infections died at a rate nearly six times that of uninfected patients.

Hospital infections are commonly defined by the area of the body that is affected. The most common types of hospital infections are urinary tract infections, gastrointestinal infections, pneumonia, bloodstream infections, and surgical site infections.

Hospital infections cause pain, suffering, and emotional stress. They further weaken people who are already sick and may lead to the need for additional medication or surgery, an extended hospital stay, and lasting side effects. And hospital infections have a high cost in dollars as well as lives. A recent study by the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) found that the average total hospital charge for a patient with a hospital infection was more than 5 times that of someone who was not infected ($175,964 as compared to $33,260). In all, treating these infections costs the health care system billions of dollars – money that could be spent on improving patient care.

In this section, read more about who is at risk for hospital infections and potential causes.

• Who is At Risk
• Causes and Risk Factors