Africa-Press – South-Africa. Johannesburg’s Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital recorded the most hospital-acquired infections in 2022, primarily due to poor infection control measures.
This was according to Gauteng Health MEC Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko, in a written response to questions by the DA’s Jack Bloom in the Gauteng legislature.
According to Nkomo-Ralehoko, in 2022, 7 457 of 116 366 patients got nosocomial infections, of which 5 032 were in the seven central and tertiary hospitals in the province.
“The technical name for hospital-acquired infections is nosocomial, which refers to infections picked up in hospitals, often caused by organisms resistant to antibiotics.
“The most prevalent nosocomial infection is CRE/CPE, which are Carbapenem-resistant or Carbapenemase-producing bacteria that cause a variety of infections, including urinalysis tract infections, wound infections, gastroenteritis, meningitis, septicaemia and pneumonia,” Bloom said.
In her response, Nkomo-Ralehoko said there were weekly and monthly healthcare-associated infection surveillance records, but no data was collected for 2020 and 2021 because of Covid-19.
Nkomo-Ralehoko said 1 542 infections were reported at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital.
“Whereas Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital had 376 nosocomial infections in 2014, these have rocketed to 1 542 last year,” Bloom said.
Steve Biko Academic Hospital recorded the second highest number of hospital-acquired infections (1 365), followed by Charlotte Maxeke Hospital (1 157) and Helen Joseph Hospital (613).
Other tertiary hospitals included Kalafong Hospital (337), George Mukhari Hospital (312) and Tembisa Hospital (238).
Bloom said nine regional hospitals had accounted for 1 617 of all hospital-acquired infections.
Among the 12 smaller district hospitals, the Kopanong and Odi Hospitals had the highest number of nosocomial infections – 194 and 176 respectively.
“The antibiotic-resistant infections are a particular horror as they are difficult to treat, leading to longer hospital stays and sometimes even death.
“It is distressing that more than one in 20 patients will pick up an infection while in hospital. The latest figures indicate the need for tight infection controls and proper hygiene to cut hospital infections as much as possible,” Bloom said.
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