Consumer Reports Health named the University's Medical Center among a group of hospitals with high rates of deadly bloodstream infections in its upcoming March issue.
In Virginia, all hospitals are required to report their data on infection to the state. According to Consumer Reports, the Medical Center reported 77 central bloodline infections during a 15-month period that ended in September 2009 - two times the national average. The publication released information showing the great variation between hospitals in their ability to prevent infection caused when patients receive central intravenous lines in intensive care units and the number of patients exposed to bacteria.
The infections resulted from large intravenous catheters that allow for patients in intensive care to receive nutrition, medication and fluids directly into the bloodstream, said Nancy Metcalf, senior program manager at Consumer Reports Health. Typically, she added, these particular catheters are one or two feet long and inserted into major veins.
"The danger," she said, "is that if bacteria gets into that vein, it runs through your body in seconds and will cause horrible bloodstream infections in your entire circulatory system."
Metcalf expressed that the best way to prevent these deadly infections is good hygiene practice at the hospitals.
"The basic idea is that you need to treat these central lines like time bombs or booby traps," she said. "When you put them in, you need to basically have the same conditions as you would in an operating room. Infection prevention does not require fancy materials; it requires lots of soap, face masks and a hospital wide commitment from the top down."
With these readily available methods of prevention, there is no reason as to why hospitals should report such high numbers of infection, she said. Five hospitals reported not having any central live infections during the same time period, she noted, adding that a large Norfolk hospital sized similarly to the University's Medical Center reported 10 infections during the time period.
Kyle Benfield, associate director of Hospital Epidemiology at the University's Medical Center, said he believes that the statistics in Consumer Reports are outdated and insists that since the findings, the hospital has taken greater strides to better prevent exposing patients to central bloodline infections. He added that since implementing the new approaches, the University's bloodline infection rates are now below the national average.
These new approaches include the use of antiseptic coated catheters and Biopatch, a patch coated with antiseptic and placed over the site where the catheter enters the body, he said. The Medical Center also has put all workers who deal with those IVs through an educational program that demonstrates how to avoid infection, Benfield added.
"If we can sustain these new rates, we will believe we have done a good job," he said.
Additionally, more aggressive surveillance may be another successful approach, said Peter Jump, the director of public relations at the Medical Center.
"We are better at finding the infections," he said.
Metcalf backed the report's findings and stressed the needlessness of such infections when the right hygiene measures are in place.
"You don't have to have a medical degree to tell if the hospital is doing the right thing - wearing masks, cleaning the person's skin, washing their hands," Metcalf said. "It is not high-tech; it is basic sanitation. If you have a family member in the hospital, they need to have someone with them around the clock to make sure their needs are being met. Hospitals do great stuff and save lives but they can be very dangerous places"
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