Healthcare-associated Infections

The Burden

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that patients acquire during the course of receiving healthcare treatment for other conditions. These infections related to medical care can be devastating and even deadly. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC is committed to helping all Americans receive the best and safest care when they receive healthcare services.

CDC strives to understand how HAIs happen and to develop appropriate interventions. HAIs are an important public health problem. Approximately 1 out of every 20 hospitalized patients will contract an HAI.

The following documents provide information about the problem of HAIs in the United States.

The Direct Medical Costs of Healthcare-associated Infections in U.S. Hospitals and the Benefits of Prevention [PDF - 835 KB]
This report uses results from the published medical and economic literature to provide a range of estimates for the annual direct medical hospital cost of treating HAIs in the United States.
Estimating Healthcare-associated Infections and Deaths in U.S. Hospitals, 2002. Public Health Reports [PDF - 241 KB]

In 2002, the estimated number of HAIs in U.S. hospitals, adjusted to include federal facilities, was approximately 1.7 million: 33,269 HAIs among newborns in high-risk nurseries; 19,059 among newborns in well-baby nurseries; 417,946 among adults and children in intensive care units (ICUs); and 1,266,851 among adults and children outside of ICUs.
Visit NHSN Data & Statistics for more reports and information.