Rougly 50% Of Patients In Intensive Care Suffer Infections

Washington (SmartAboutHealth)

According to a new study, roughly 50% of patients who are in intensive care units suffer from infections.

The new study was carried out by researchers led by Dr. Jean-Louis Vincent of Erasme Hospital in Belgium.

The study analyzed data from one single day, May 8, 2007. The day consisted of looking at data on adults who were 18-years-old an dup from over 75 different countries.

There were over 13,000 patients involved in total that were put in over 1,250 intensive care units around the world.

Researchers confirmed from this data that 51% of those patients in an ICU were suffering from an infection.

32% of patients who were in an ICU for a day or less suffered from an infection, compared to 70% who spent seven days or more.
On top of that, they found that 71% were being treated with an antibiotic for an infection.

Breaking down the infections further, researchers confirmed that the majority of the infections, 64%, took place in the lungs.

South America was found to have the highest rate of infection.

The study has been published in the December 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.