A study, led by the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC), has demonstrated ‘unacceptably high’ rates of hospital-acquired infections among children in the UK and Europe, writes Science Daily. The report, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases last month, found that one in six children in paediatric intensive care units, and one in ten babies in neonatal intensive care units had developed hospital infections while being treated. The study found that the pattern of hospital-acquired infections is different in babies and children compared to adults, with more serious infections such as blood poisoning/bloodstream infections being commonly seen (45%) followed by respiratory tract infections/pneumonia (22%). Many of these hospital-related infections are also multi-drug resistant, making their treatment more complicated.
Read more:
- Health-care-associated infections in neonates, children, and adolescents: an analysis of paediatric data from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control point-prevalence survey. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 2017; DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(16)30517-5
- High levels of hospital-acquired infection on children’s intensive care wards, study shows. Science Daily.