Super Freakonomics, HAI and a new site from Kimberly-Clark

December 1st, 2009. By AbiK

If you’ve read “Super Freakonomics” by Stephen Dubner and Steve Levitt, you’ve read how Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis discovered in the mid-1800’s that doctors washing hands could lower the incidence rate of puerperal fever (often fatal) in the maternity ward at Vienna General Hospital. It’s a timely read—and one that makes you wonder whether we’ve really come a long way baby (couldn’t resist)—given the recent focus in the news on Healthcare Associated Infections (like MRSA).

Things may well be better healthcare infection-wise since the mid-19th century, but none the less, the CDC lists 28 infectious diseases that you can “acquire” in a healthcare setting:

Infectious Diseases that may be HAI’s

1. Acinetobacter
2. Bloodborne Pathogens
3. Burkholderia cepacia
4. Chickenpox (Varicella)
5. Clostridium Difficile
6. Clostridium Sordellii
7. Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
8. Ebola (Viral Hemorrhagic Fever)
9. Gastrointestinal (GI) Infections
10. Hepatitis A
11. Hepatitis B
12. Hepatitis C
13. HIV/AIDS
14. Influenza
15. MRSA
16. Mumps
17. Norovirus
18. Parvovirus
19. Poliovirus
20. Pneumonia
21. Rubella
22. SARS
23. S. pneumoniae (Drug resistant)
24. Tuberculosis
25. Varicella (Chickenpox)
26. Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (Ebola)
27. VISA
28. VRE

The commonly used name for such “acquired” diseases is HAI’s—which, depending on what you’re reading, stands for Hospital Acquired Infections or Healthcare Associated Infections; either way, you don’t want the acronym showing up anywhere near you.

HAI’s are more common than you think: the CDC estimates there are 1.7 million infections and close to 100,000 deaths each year from HAI’s.

Some good news though…there are some companies that are trying to raise awareness about and provide resources for the fight against preventable HAI’s. Kimberly-Clark Corporation is one such company. Kimberly-Clark has created a website, haiwatch.com, that provides information specifically for healthcare providers, though surely consumers can benefit from the information on the site as well. The information on the site was created through partnerships with numerous organizations—including the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), American Association of Critical Care Nurses, and the International Federation of Infection Control.

It may not put an end to all the incidents of HAI’s, however, it’s a step in the right direction. And you have to think back to Dr. Semmelweis when you see the “Not on My Watch” tagline at haiwatch.com—consider it an acknowledgement of healthcare provider responsibility in this fight that Semmelweis’ peers would’ve found laughable.

Tags: CDC, HAI, Healthcare Associated Infections, Hospital Acquired Infections, Hospitals, Kimberly-Clark

This was posted on Tuesday, December 1st, 2009 at 5:34 pm and is filed under Drugs/Medical . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.