The Most Frequent Medical Adverse Event

HAIs are the most frequently occurring medical adverse event worldwide, with a prevalence of around 7-10%.^{3, 4}

HAIs can cause significant morbidity and are a risk to patients, staff and visitors.² Facilities and practitioners may also suffer financial as well as reputational damage as a result of HAIs associated with their facility.

HAIs Add Considerable Cost to Delivering Healthcare

HAIs add considerably to the cost of delivering healthcare.² It’s estimated that every 300,000 HAIs cost the NHS over ₤1 billion.⁵

HAIs are Preventable

An estimated 300,000 people acquire an HAI in England each year, with a prevalence of 6.4%.5 A 2017 survey found HAI prevalence in the Welsh acute hospital sector to be 5.5%, and 6% in the non-acute sector.⁵ In Europe, around 4,100,000 patients acquire HAIs each year.⁶

A systematic review and meta-analysis found 35-55% of HAIs are preventable with existing multifaceted infection prevention and control interventions, regardless of a country’s income level.⁷

The Role of Medical Devices in HAIs

Sterilisation and disinfection of medical devices play an important role in the prevention of HAIs. Multiple studies document failures in medical device reprocessing, some of which have led to outbreaks and patient exposure.^8-10

Population Level Study: Infection Risk after Ultrasound

In the first of its kind, a UK study revealed an "unacceptable risk" of patient infection following ultrasound. The study revealed an increased infection risk in the 30 days following endocavitary ultrasound. Commissioned by a national health authority, the study revealed an increased infection risk in the 30 days following endocavitary ultrasound.¹¹

90.5% of facilities were not performing high level disinfection (HLD) of these probes at the time of the study.

Public Health Risk Reality

Of the 982,911 patients followed, 330,500 were gynaecological patients. 60,698 of these patients had undergone transvaginal ultrasound.

The national health authority now recommends HLD for endocavitary ultrasound probes.