Issue has been largely unnoticed until now
According to World Health Organization researchers, poorer countries have far higher hospital infection rates than those in the developed world. After reviewing 220 previous studies, they concluded that infection rates in poor countries were three times higher than in the U.S. Looking at data back to 1995, including urinary tract, bloodstream and surgical site infections, and hospital-acquired pneumonia, they could see the difference. Intensive care infection rates were even higher: 47.9 per 1,000 patient-days, versus 13.6 in the U.S. Low cost measures like hand sanitation, surveillance and staff education could make a big difference, they said.