Hospitals are supposed to be havens for healing, but the numbers tell a different story. Too many people are infected by illnesses they acquire after they’ve been admitted, and hospital-related infections continue to be the number-two killer of hospitalized Americans after heart disease.

Today eMaxhealth reported that anti-bacterial wipes may spread infection in hospitals, particularly MRSA if the hospital staff continues to follow the present protocols set by hospitals. However, changing some three principes may help to fix the situation and decrease the spreading of MRSA in hospitals.

“One small water line feeding one hospital faucet alone can house millions of bacteria,” said international Legionella expert Janet Stout, Ph.D., urging public health and infection control officers to be proactive against Legionella and other waterborne microbes that contribute to soaring hospital infection rates.

A new review of inpatient data from US hospitals shows that the number of infections caused by a common bacterium increased by over 7 percent each year from 1998 to 2003. The attendant economic burden to hospitals increased by nearly 12 percent annually. The research is published in the November 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases, now available online.

A simple video-based awareness programme significantly improved hand washing among family members visiting sick children in a Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, according to research in the June issue of the UK-based Journal of Clinical Nursing.