HEALTH

PGI plans to control hospital acquired infections
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News service

Chandigarh, July 29
Rising to the challenge posed by hospital acquired infections (HAIs) which are emerging as a global health concern, the PGIMER today reiterated its commitment to reducing that risk at the tertiary care institute.

Over 1.4 million people worldwide are suffering from HAIs or nosocomial infections as they are called. In India, nosocomial infection rate is at over 25 per cent and it is responsible for more mortality than any other form of accidental death. The irony is that one-third of all such episodes are preventable.

Like other hospitals of the world, the PGI is not out of bounds for HAIs which have been found to be prevalent. An infection core committee of the PGI, through active surveillance, has accumulated the following data pertaining to HAIs at the institute.

In the burns unit, 36.2 per cent infection was found per 1000 patient days; in the renal transplant unit hospital acquired infections were reported in 58 patients out of 100; the extent of ventilator associated pneumonia was found to be 30.7 per cent per 1000 ventilator days; in the gynecology department, 15 per cent of urinary tract infections were attributed to HAIs and 9 per cent of wound infection rate was attributed to HAIs.

Given the gravity of the situation as admitted by Dr S.S. Gill, head, Infection Core Committee, PGI, the authorities organised a sterilisation and disinfection workshop for doctors, nurses, technicians, sanitary inspectors and engineers today.

Medical Superintendent PGI, Dr A.K. Gupta, said, “The Global Patient Health Challenge Programme was initiated in India last month. It has been proven that HAIs lead to complications among 3.5 to 16.6 per cent admitted patients worldwide. Most common types of HAIs are surgical wounds, urinary tract infections, and lower respiratory tract infections. These can be found among patients admitted to ICUs, labour rooms; among patients undergoing invasive procedures or those on immunosuppressive drugs.”

In fact, Broomsfield Hospital in the UK has reported decrease in infections due to periodical hand cleaning and taking precautions before making patient contact by doctors and caregivers.

The PGI, meanwhile, has decided to have one infection control nurse after every 250 beds. Six nurses will be trained for the purpose. The idea is to prevent losses, including socio-economic losses which HAIs cause.

Dr A.K. Gupta agrees, “It is tenacious to eradicate HAIs. It is more expensive, more prolonged and results in the wastage of hospital resources. Excessive use of antibiotics must also be avoided. Their inappropriate and overuse leads to growth of drug-resistant organisms.

Nosocomial infection

Nosocomial or hospital-acquired infections include almost all clinically evident infections that do not originate from patient’s original admitting diagnosis. Within hours of admission, a patient’s flora begins to acquire characteristics of the surrounding bacterial pool. Most infections that become clinically evident after 48 hours of hospitalisation are considered hospital-acquired.

Frequency: About 5-10% in most developed nations; in India, one in four patients admitted into hospital acquires HAIs.

898 examined at health camp

Chandigarh, July 29
As many as 898 patients were examined and provided free health check-up and medicines at a camp organized by the UT Red Cross Society in collaboration with the Health Department yesterday at Government High School, Dariya village. TNS

SPORTS

Chess tourney gets under way
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 29
Karan earned three points at the culmination of the third round in the under-19 (boys) category of the Chandigarh Junior Chess Championship-2006, which started at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sector 25, here today.

Seventy contestants are taking part in four categories of the tournament.

The results after 3rd round: Under-19 (boys): 3 points: Karan, Anmol Razdan, Satbir Singh; 2.5 points: Prateek Munjal; 2 points: Simranjeet, Jaskaran, Anubhav Pasrija, Ankush Verma, Ameek Malhotra, Harpreet, Karansher, Daksh; 1.5 points: Vikram Hooda, Jagteshwar Singh, Shirish, Sunny Kumar; 1 point: Vishal Singh, Sulaksh Sharma, Vishal Basil, Harsimar Singh, Gurnoor, Raghav Jha, Monu, Pankaj Yadav; 0.5 point: Gaganpreet Singh.

Under-19 girls: 3 points: Rishu Rathi; 2 points: Shweta, Megha, Ravneet; 1 point: Tanya Gupta, Gauri, Abha.

Under-11 boys: 4 points: Shivam Shashwat; 3.5 points: Shivanshu Tondon, Anmol Kuthalia; 3 points: Gitin Oberoi, Sachleen Singh, Shivam Sahni, Shivam Rathi; 2.5 points: Mayank Kaura, Tejas Nagpal, Mehul Jotshi, Swikrit Malik; 2 points: Priyansh Soni, Utkarsh, Sahil Kansal, Surya, Shivam Kansal, Archit, Pranjal Kaura, Parth, Arjun Khullar; 1.5 points: Guranchal Singh; 1 point: Anubhav Tuknayat, Rohan Singh, Gaurav Goyel, Siddarth, Kritarth, Kanwar Inder, Rohit Sehgal, Raghav Gaur; 0.5 point: Japesh.

Under-11 girls: 2 points: Arunima; 1 point: Roopam, Simranjeet, Gauri Chutani, Richa Verma.