2017 HAI Progress Report Highlights Continued Prevention Progress; Improvements Still Needed

March 28, 2019
Policy Snapshot
Infection Prevention/Control, Practitioners

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published the 2017 National and State Healthcare-Associated Infection (HAI) Progress Report. This report shows that the United States has made significant reductions in several types of HAIs and highlights areas where more improvements are needed.

The 2017 National and State HAI Progress Report provides data from the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) on central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs), catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs), ventilator-associated events (VAEs), surgical site infections (SSIs), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, and Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) events. The report includes data across four healthcare settings: acute care hospitals, critical access hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals.

Nationally, among acute care hospitals between 2016 and 2017, highlights in the report include:

  • About a 9% decrease in CLABSIs
  • About a 5% decrease in CAUTIs
  • About a 3% decrease in VAEs 
  • No significant changes in abdominal hysterectomy SSIs
  • No significant changes in colon surgery SSIs
  • About an 8% decrease in MRSA bacteremia 
  • About a 13% decrease in C. difficile infections

Visit the Patient Safety Atlas to view the latest data in your state. CDC’s HAI Progress Report is a snapshot of how each state and the country are doing in eliminating HAIs. A new version of the report is published every year, with updated data.

Each day, approximately one in 31 U.S. patients has at least one infection in association with his or her hospital care, underscoring the need for improvements in patient care practices in U.S. health care facilities. While much progress has been made, more needs to be done to prevent health care-associated infections in a variety of settings. Preventing HAIs is a top priority for CDC and its partners.

Visit CDC’s HAI website for more information about the 2017 HAI Progress Report, including methods and technical tables or commonly asked questions.