There’s a long standing belief held by both medical professionals and their patients that infections from hospital stays are caused by exposure to so-called “superbugs.” However, new research published by two members of the University of Washington’s medical faculty on The Conversation website now suggests the opposite to be true and that bacteria already present on patient’s skin prior to the hospital visit are responsible for many infections.
The body hosts a diverse array of bacterial microorganisms, collectively known as the microbiome, that live in the nose, on the skin, and other parts of the body. The bacteria coexist harmoniously when the body is healthy, but when illness strikes, these seemingly innocuous bacteria can turn malevolent.
Surgical site infectionsstand out as especially troublesome among health care-associated infections,accounting for 33% of the staggering $9.8 billion in annual costs of hospital-acquired infections spent each year.
Despite rigorous infection prevention measures – sterilizing surgical equipment, sanitizing operating rooms with ultraviolet light, and adhering to strict protocols – surgical site infections continue to occur in approximately 1 in 30 procedures. The problem persists, defying improvement trends seen in other medical procedures.
Although antibiotics have long been a key component to surgical procedures, the increase in antibiotic resistance threatens to exacerbate infection rates following surgeries.
Recent genetic analyses of bacteria causing surgical site infections revealed that many of these infections originate from microbes already residing on patients’ skin and are often the same ones that peacefully coexist on and in a healthy body. The new study, published in Science Translational Medicine sheds light on spinal surgery-related infections and found that 86% of infection-causing bacteria were genetically identical to bacteria already present on the patient’s skin, playing a significant role in causing post-surgical complications.
Hospitals employ stringent protocols to prevent infections related to surgical procedures yet, the persistence of surgical site infections underscores the need for a deeper awareness of microbial dynamics to improve care. While hospitals focus on environmental hygiene, a better understanding of each patient’s unique microbiome could lead to personalized infection prevention strategies from caregivers.
Commenting on this story, one national food safety attorney said, “This fascinating study shows that our skin harbors a complex ecosystem of bacteria, both friend and foe. As medical research continues to break new ground we should all look forward to better infection control and enhanced patient safety .”
