Thousands of Hungarian people die due to infections in hospitals

Last year, hospitals in Hungary treated 4935 people infected with multiresistant bacteria, meaning the pathogen is impervious to several antibiotics. The report was stealthily published about a month ago on the site of the National Public Health and Medical Officer Service. It has not been revealed how many of the infections caused by such diseases were fatal, however. The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union keeps fighting to make the detailed information fully public and available to everyone – wrote blikk.hu.

According to index.hu, although there is a lot of information available, the exact number of those who died in hospitals because of such pathogens is unclear. We know the number of those who got infected and how many people the hospitals let out. It is important to note, however, that those who were sent home and those who passed away both belong to this category.

The percentage of infected people per region shows that the highest rate of infection is in Central Hungary while the lowest is in the Transdanubian regions. The most often reported diseases caused by MRP are urinary tract diseases, wound infections, and bloodstream infections.

It has not been published how many have died from diseases caught in hospitals in Hungary.

Nearly 5000 people got infected in hospitals in Hungary last year, but it is unknown how many of them were fatal.

“If someone is looking for the numbers of those who passed away in 2017 because of multiresistant bacteria, then they have to deal with a tedious task. We do not deny that it is important to inform medical specialists but information should be easily understandable for the general public” – project leader at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union Márton Asbóth added.

According to doctor Hunor Novák, the leading reasons for the spreading of the previously mentioned diseases include the low infrastructure of hospitals, the low budget of hospitals

(there are limited or no hand sanitizers, and some of the disposable equipment is washed and reused)

and the low number of nurses. He also stated that, in the European Union, it is Hungary where the least amount of alcoholic hand sanitizers is used, whereas it should be the basis of preventing infections in hospitals.

In hospitals, it is possible to get urinary infections, for example, because of catheters. One of the reasons behind this is the misuse or overuse of antibiotics, which results in the development of resistant strains of bacteria.

In most places in Hungary, adhering to the hygiene protocols of Western Europe – which would really help mitigate the problem – is, unfortunately, not very popular – he added.

The number of those who are infected by diseases in hospitals or die from infections is higher every year. They hide the data concerning these cases; in 2014, only 44% of infections in hospitals were reported by institutions. It would certainly be better if this was between 75-90% – remarked Tamás Dénes, president of the Residents’ and Specialists’ Trade Union.

It could be easily prevented

There will always be infections in hospitals, but we ourselves can do something to prevent them. Some simple actions can really help avoid the often horribly painful diseases. Such an action is, for example, washing your hands – a thorough disinfection can go a long way. It is also important to pay attention to coughing and sneezing, as this way, we can help to prevent the diseases from spreading to people around us. Also, do not forget to do everything as the doctors say, and keep to the basic rules of hygiene. We can also mitigate the danger factor by reserving an appointment instead of waiting in line at the doctor’s office.

It surpasses the number of tumorous diseases

It was said on the conference of the Semmelweis Foundation in Vienna that by 2020, the number of infections in hospitals would surpass the number of tumorous diseases. These devastating pathogens infect over 1.4 million people around the world. According to the overall statistics in Hungary, about 100.000 people got infected.

If you want to read more about the dark side of Hungarian hospitals, read this article.

Source: index.hu, blikk.hu