By Chris Miller, Assistant Editor, Facility Market

Eleven percent of COVID-19 patients contracted their infection while in a healthcare facility during the United Kingdom’s first wave of the pandemic, according to Becker’s Hospital Review. Based on an analysis of 314 UK hospitals, researchers examined the records of over 82,000 COVID-19 patients in the UK whose symptoms began before August 2020. They determined if an infection was acquired during a hospital stay by looking at admission and symptom onset date, along with incubation-related information about the virus.

The 11 percent figure reached almost 16 percent by the middle of May 2020, according to The Lancet. This equates to between 5,699 and 11,862 patients admitted during the first pandemic wave gained the infection from the hospital they were in. Mental health hospitals had the highest percentage of hospital-acquired infections at 67.5 percent. Residential community care centers follow them at 61.9 percent. The authors of the study believe that the precise reasons for the high amount of hospital-acquired infections need further research but offered some suggestions. 

First, the large number of patients admitted into hospitals with not enough facilities for isolation might have contributed to hospital-acquired infections. Second, there was limited access to quick and reliable diagnostic testing when the pandemic started.

Third, it was tough to gain access to adequate amounts of personal protective equipment. Fourth, the medical sector lacked knowledge surrounding coronavirus. When patients are most likely to pass the disease on to someone else, misclassification of cases due to the presentation of atypical symptoms, and an under-appreciation of the role of airborne transmission are things that medical and scientific professionals did not fully understand early in the pandemic. 

Strategies to prevent infections acquired in healthcare settings include: hand hygiene, environmental hygiene, screening and cohorting patients, surveillance, antibiotic management, following health guidelines and creating a culture that revolves around safety. Done in unison, these strategies provide sufficient protection to patients and providers in a healthcare setting.