Wash Your Hands, Save a Life

Health care-associated infections (HAI) occur in a variety of settings and are caused by a variety of pathogens. They occur in ambulatory, institutional, hospital, and home-based settings. Four primary categories of HAIs exist, most of which are seen in acute care settings: surgical site infections, central line-associated blood stream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and catheter-related urinary tract infections. (Together, these 4 categories of infections account for 75% of HAIs each year.) HAIs are among the leading cause of death in the United States, accounting for more than 100,000 deaths annually. Overall, there are nearly 2 million HAIs reported each year.

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