A new study published in Science Translational Medicine finds that most surgical site infections may actually be caused by bacteria already on the patient’s body. Veuer’s Matt Hoffman reports.
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00:00Infections that develop during a hospital stay are often believed to be caused by exposure to other sick people.
00:05But a new study argues the culprit may be closer to home.
00:08The study was published in Science Translational Medicine.
00:11The authors studied spinal surgery patients and found that for most of the patients who ended up getting surgical site infections,
00:17the bacteria that infected them was a genetic match to bacteria that was already on their body before the surgery.
00:23Rather than being exposed to the bacteria in the hospital, the patients had brought it in with them.
00:28What's more, 59% of the bacteria was resistant to the preventative antibiotic used during surgery.
00:34Study co-authors Dustin Long and Chloe Bryson-Kahn wrote about their findings in the conversation.
00:39They say that the rarity of patients being infected by foreign bacteria is a testament to the effectiveness of sterilization practices in modern hospitals.
00:47But they also say that, quote,
00:49in the future, clinicians could use information about your microbiome to select more targeted antimicrobials.
00:55Hospital-acquired infections spiked during the pandemic but have since returned to pre-pandemic levels,
01:00according to the Leapfrog group via USA Today.
01:03NBC News reports that such infections have recently been found to be more common in hospitals owned by private equity firms.