Red alert for infections acquired in hospital, 49,000 deaths a year
Red alert for mortality caused by hospital infections: it went from 18,668 deaths in 2003 to 49,301 in 2016. Italy accounts for 30% of all deaths from sepsis in the 28 EU countries. Data emerges from the 2018 health observation report (“Osservasalute Report”) presented today in Rome. “There is a massacre in progress, thousands of people die every day from hospital infections, but the phenomenon is underestimated, the idea of this being an inevitable fact has spread”, said Walter Ricciardi, Director of the National health observatory.
In 13 years, from 2003 to 2016, the death rate from hospital-acquired infections has doubled for both men and women. The increase in the phenomenon was observed in all age groups, but especially for individuals aged 75 and over. The regional rates, explains the health observation report, show a high geographical variability, with higher values in the Center and North and lower values in the southern regions. In 2016, the highest values for men were recorded in Emilia Romagna and Friuli Venezia Giulia, the lowest in Campania and Sicily. As for women, the highest are in Emilia Romagna and Liguria and the lower levels are in Campania and Sicily as they are for men. The territorial gap may partly be linked to the greater attention on the part of hospitals in reporting the causes of death in the certificate. (ANSA; Italy’s associated press national agency)