A new report suggests hospital infections are not as common as previously thought — but still 1 in 25 patients are infected.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the estimates Wednesday. It’s considered the best data yet on infections patients pick up in the hospital.
The results are based on a 2011 survey of 183 hospitals in 10 states.
Four percent of patients had one or more infections. That’s about 648,000 patients annually.
The previous estimate was much higher, but the CDC said it’s hard to compare the new and old figures because they were calculated differently.
Health officials have been pushing hospitals to cut infections by improving care and cleanliness.
