Portland, Oregon. (Katu) – Oregon hospitals have reported a modest drop in infections associated with health care (HAI) in patients in 2023, according to new data from Oregon Health Authority (OHA).
The data, published by the infections program associated with health care within the OHA public health division, indicate that if progress has been made, other efforts are necessary to achieve national reduction objectives in all categories of infection.
Significant reductions have been observed in urinary tract infections associated with the catheter (CAUTI) and difficult clostridioides infections (CDI), both by meeting federal reduction standards for active care hospitals in 2023.
In addition, improvements have been noted in blood infections associated with the central line (clabsi) and blood infections of Staphylococcus aureus resistant to methicillin (SRM BSI) in acute care hospitals.
However, Oregon’s critical access hospitals have had a substantial increase in CLABSI cases and a moderate increase in BSI SRM. The increase in CLABSI cases was awarded to four critical access hospitals reporting incidents in 2023, against one in 2022.
Read also: Washington confirms the second case of measles, the Oregonians asked to be vaccinated
“Although progress has been identified in certain areas, data show that Oregon patients still acquire HIS in greater numbers than the national average for many types of infections,” said DAT Tran, MD, medical director of the HAI program. “We remain determined to support Oregon health establishments to improve control of infections and prevent HAI.”
The OHA dashboard includes HAI data for 61 Oregon hospitals, offering state -scale summaries and performance data specific to Nine HAI installations, with national comparison references.
The OHA highlights the importance of preventing infections due to the significant risk they represent for patient safety, noting that a patient in 31 in American hospitals acquires an infection in a health care establishment.
In 2023, Oregon hospitals reported 975 infections of this type.
The OHA continues to monitor states and regional trends and supports efforts to reduce HAI by conducting studies, providing assistance to infections control and by collaborating with centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to offer education to health care providers.