According to a study published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, more than 100,000 people die every year due to infections they develop after being admitted to the hospital. Several experts have pointed out that despite intense infection-control efforts, new strains of bacteria keep on emerging, seemingly out of nowhere, to sicken people in hospitals worldwide.

However, in this study, the researchers have found that the unexpected source of such bacteria is the hospitalised patients themselves. The lead author of the study explained that A. baumannii is a major threat to hospitalised people because it can cause UTIs in people with urinary catheters, pneumonia in people on ventilators, and bloodstream infections in people with central-line catheters in their veins. He added that the bacteria are resistant to a broad range of antibiotics.

Hence, the team suggested that screening patients for hidden reservoirs of dangerous bacteria can help in framing infection-control measures and help prevent deadly infections.

(Source: https://theprint.in/health/study-hospitalised-patients-infections-may-develop-from-their-own-bacteria/1312036/ )