"Infections in US Hospitals Kill 48,000, Cost Billions"

"Nearly 50,000 US medical patients die every year of blood poisoning or pneumonia they picked up in hospital, a study has shown.

Hospital-acquired sepsis and pneumonia in 2006 claimed 48,000 lives, led to 2.3 million extra patient-days in hospital and cost 8.1 billion dollars, according to the study, led by researchers from the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy at Washington-based Resources for the Future.

Together, the two hospital-acquired infections -- also called nosocomial infections -- account for about one-third of the 1.7 million infections US patients pick up every year while in hospital, the study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on Monday shows.

They are also responsible for nearly half of the 99,000 deaths a year from hospital-acquired infections reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

AFP had the story February 23, 2010.