The rate of infections in American hospitals has risen steadily over the last 30 years, according to Betsy McCaughey, head of the -- or RID.
"Hospital hygiene is so inadequate that one out of every 20 patients contracts an infection in the hospital,? she says. ?The danger is worsening, because increasingly it cannot be cured with commonly used antibiotics."
Maureen Daly is the Volunteer Coordinator for RID.
Her 63-year-old mother was admitted to a New York City hospital for surgery on a fractured shoulder.
During that procedure she contracted an infection that had fatal consequences.
"She died five months later on May 23, 2004, all from a broken shoulder," said Ms. Daly.
"If hospitals lack the discipline to prevent ordinary infections from spreading from patient to patient in the hospital, they are totally unprepared to deal with avian flu which spreads more easily because it can be spread not only by touch but also by droplets, by sneezing and coughing," says the head of RID.
Ms. McCaughey says improving day-to-day infection control is they key to preventing the spread of all infections. And that would save millions of dollars -- and many lives.