Ireland has a higher rate of healthcare-associated infections than the US, new research has shown.

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are infections that people acquire in a healthcare setting, such as a hospital, while undergoing treatment for another condition.

Worldwide, millions of people are affected by HAIs and aside from health consequences, they are very costly to any health service.

This latest research was undertaken by Quynhvi Vu, a nursing student at California State University, who recently completed a course to learn about Irish nursing in Trinity College Dublin's School of Nursing and Midwifery.

She compared HAIs in Ireland and the US, looking at issues such as which country has the highest rate, what are the most common HAIs seen in each country and what factors contribute to their spread.

Ms Vu found that HAIs are prevalent in healthcare settings in both Ireland and the US. However Ireland ‘has a slightly higher rate of HAIs', with a prevalence rate of 5.2% compared to a rate of 4.5% in the US.

"However, despite the differences in HAI prevalence rates, it is clear that this issue affects both countries," she noted.

Furthermore, the most common types of infections seen in healthcare settings ‘are similar in both countries'.

"In the US, a majority of HAIs include pneumonia, surgical site infections, urinary tract infections and bloodstream infections. In Ireland, the common types of infection are pneumonia, surgical site infectons, urinary tract infections, bloodstream infections and gastrointestinal problems," she noted.

She pointed out that in both countries, when patients acquire infections, they are given antibiotics, and while these are effective, their use puts patients at risk of developing antibiotics-resistant conditions, such as MRSA.

Meanwhile, Ms Vu found that both Ireland and the US share the same risk factors for HAIs, including the excessive or improper use of antibiotics and contaminated healthcare settings.

"It should also be noted that the behaviours of healthcare providers in the healthcare setting influences the rate of HAIs," she said.

This includes behaviours such as hand hygiene and the proper cleaning of medical equipment.

"Research has shown that proper education and training of healthcare workers results in increased compliance with and adoption of practices to prevent these infections," Ms Vu said.

She also looked at the financial costs of these infections, describing them as a ‘financial burden for healthcare facilities in both the US and Ireland'.

In the US alone, HAIs cost between $24-45 billion per annum. The cost to treat one patient with a surgical site infection is over $10,000.

In Ireland, the annual cost to treat HAIs in each hospital is €1.75 million.

"Looking at the staggering financial costs HAIs have on healthcare facilities in both countries, developing and implementing prevention interventions would benefit healthcare organisations by saving them millions to billions each year," Ms Vu insisted.

She added that these infections are ‘preventable' and initiating interventions ‘would benefit healthcare organisations and their clients'.

Ms Vu's research is published in WIN (World of Irish Nursing & Midwifery), the Journal of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation.