Prevention Practices for Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections Lacking in Most U.S. Hospitals

On Dec. 9, News-Medical.net reported that few U.S. hospitals are working to prevent the most common hospital-acquired infection (HAI), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), according to a study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. The University of Michigan Health System and Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare Center study found that nearly 90 percent of hospitals increased use of methods to prevent central line-associated bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia between 2005 and 2009. However, only a small number of hospitals regularly used prevention practices for CAUTIs. “Despite being the most common healthcare-associated infection in the country, hospitals appear not to be using as many practices for prevention when compared with bloodstream infections and ventilator-associated pneumonia,” said senior author Dr. Sanjay Saint. Read more.