86,400 Preventable Deaths

We just read a few minutes back that every day in America 240 people die from healthcare acquired/associated infections (i.e. infections acquired in a hospital, long-term care facility, home care, nursing home).

That’s 86,400 deaths a year.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines healthcare-associated infections as infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving treatment for other conditions within a healthcare setting.

The CDC says healthcare-associated infections are one of the top ten leading causes of death in the U.S.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, of the 1.7 million infections reported among patients in the U.S., the most common healthcare-associated infections are urinary tract infections (32%), surgical site infections (22%), pneumonias (15%), and bloodstream infections (14%).

It’s believed that many healthcare acquired infections can be prevented by employing proper hand hygiene (like antiseptic handwashing or antiseptic handrubbing, hand cleansing) and following contact precautions and active surveillance procedures.

5 Responses to "86,400 Preventable Deaths"

  1. SRINIVAS   December 4, 2008 at 11:56 pm

    this is much more than terror related attacks …seems like a third world country …

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Sometimes we wonder if people realize how badly things are deteriorating in the U.S.

    This country has turned into a complete Plutocracy.

    Today, we read in the WSJ that car rental company Avis wants a bailout. Our barber will want a bailout next.

  2. shuaib68   December 6, 2008 at 1:17 am

    I am eager to know about the huge Gambling Industry in the US, about its position in the present financial crisis. (Including the allied industries of Porno, prostitution and hospitality sectors…etc.)

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: I am eager to know about the huge Gambling Industry in the US

    Gambling is very big here in the U.S., a multi-billion dollar business.

    We think it has to do with the culture of people wanting to get rich quickly or desperation for money (it’s increasingly becoming hard for people to make a decent living these days). We’ve been to casinos in Atlantic City (NJ), Las Vegas (Nevada), Louisiana and Delaware. The people inside playing the slot machines belong mostly to middle class or lower middle class. BTW, in Las Vegas the slot machines are present even inside the airport near the flight departure gates.

    These days almost every state has casinos. As we wrote in a post last year – America Turns into a Nation of Foolish Gamblers:

    As the American middle class is caught between the Scylla of outsourcing and the Charybdis of bad government policies and greedy corporations and the lower class gets squeezed by illegal immigrants, the vast majority of people in the U.S. have limited prospects and see in gambling an easy option and their only hope for a good life.

    Now casinos have also been badly hit because of the recession. Las Vegas is in pretty bad shape overall.

    2. You write above: I am eager to know about the allied industries of Porno, prostitution…sectors

    We need to fully explore the above two areas before giving you our assessment. 😉

    Seriously speaking, both porn and prostitution here are like any other country. But we guess they must be impacted too because of the recession.

    We think only doctors and liquor stores (many of them owned by the Gujaratis) are immune to the current recession.

  3. What_if   December 6, 2008 at 4:46 am

    (Submitting my earlier post here, i feel its appropriate here – as your answers to Shuaib68 speaks of recession)

    With the recession getting stronger, and the Federal Govt having to be prepared to shell out over a Trillion $ to sustain for 2009 & 2010, with many lay off announced and yet to come, wonder what are our desis are going to do there after receiving the pink slips?

    Continue to “lend their asses” there OR return to India (reverse Brain Drain) and join their peers and say “Bhaiya, Aaramse Maar Meri Gaand”.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    (Sorry, we forgot to respond to this off-topic portion in your earlier comment.)

    Many of the H1B/L1 desis will probably return to India and join their fellow 60,000 IT Coolies Out in the Cold and say “Bhaiya, Aaramse Maar Meri Gaand”.

    But the Permanent Residents (i.e. Green Card holders) and Citizens don’t have much choice. They’ll have to stick around (because America is now home) and hope for the best. We think the Green Card holders & Citizens comprise the larger part of desis here.

    On Friday, the govt announced the loss of 533,000 jobs in November alone. According to the New York Times, 1.9 million jobs have gone poof since the recesson started a year back.

  4. shuaib68   December 6, 2008 at 5:27 am

    Which means there will be more jobs created in the Prostitution sector/ a reverse action to layoffs…haa haa..

    Apart from jokes I’m very concerned of the poor people who have lost their jobs. I think, the social welfare organizations should keep an eye on the suicides and suicide attempts.

    BTW, some years ago, (Sorry, I don’t have the links and references at the moment) Sri Lanka was considered the highest rate of suicides in Asian region. They have cited the war and its implications on the economic front. They cited the lower middle classes and the farmers as the most affected groups in the society.

    Child prostitution was another sub effect of the above condition and a study found that the parents in many cases were aiding and abetting and forcing their children for prostituion. Now they have enacted tough laws to prevent these nefarious activities.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: I’m very concerned of the poor people who have lost their jobs

    It’s not just poor folks who are losing their jobs in the U.S. Almost everyone is at risk of losing his/her job.

  5. shuaib68   December 6, 2008 at 5:36 am

    Here I got the statistics.

    SUICIDE RATES BY COUNTRIES – WHO
    http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

    I think, Sri Lanka is the highest IN THE WORLD (16.8%) in the 100,000 ratio.

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