ALBANY - A new report says New York hospitals had a higher rate of infection in surgical intensive care units in 2007 than the rest of the nation.

Compared to the national average of 2.7 infections per 1,000 days of central-line treatment, New York surgical intensive care units had 3.7 per 1,000.

A central line is a tube into a major vein that allows doctors to administer medication or monitor a health condition. They can lead to infection.

The report on hospital acquired infections was conducted by the state Department of Health in compliance with a 2005 law that required New York to track statewide infection trends.

The data for 2007 are not broken down by hospital, but next year that information will be provided for hospitals in 2008. That information will allow New Yorkers to learn whether they have a higher risk for certain procedures involving lines inserted into major veins at their local hospital compared to the rest of the state.

New York City had a lower rate than upstate hospitals of blood stream infections associated with those “central lines” in medical and surgical ICUs.

In New York City, 2.8 out of 1,000 central lines at medical ICUs resulted in blood stream infections.

Another 2.7 out of 1,000 surgical ICU central lines resulted in blood stream infection. That's compared to 3.6 out of 1,000 at upstate medical ICUs and 4.8 out of 1,000 at upstate surgical ICUs.

For the 2007 pilot year, the state's reporting system tracked central line-associated blood stream infections in critical care unit patients and surgical site infections associated with colon and coronary artery bypass graft procedures.

New York state had a lower rate of central line infections in pediatric and coronary intensive care units than the rest of the country. New York had only 2.2 infections per 1,000 procedures in coronary ICUs compared with 2.8 nationally, and 4 per 1,000 in the pediatric ICUs compared to 5.3 nationally.

The national numbers used for comparison can be incomplete because not all hospitals report the information to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We have done more than other states to make sure our reporting system captures useful data,” said Dr. Richard Daines, the state health commissioner. “Monitoring infections just to create a report won't solve the problem. The state is working with hospitals to identify risk factors for infection and interventions to reduce those risks.”

The audits revealed an increased incidence of infection for patients with multiple central lines and those whose lines were placed in the intensive care unit rather than before hospital admission.

The surveillance system used to collect data allowed hospitals to immediately use the information by calculating trends over time and comparing their infection rates with national rates.

The CDC estimated 1.7 million health care-associated infections in 2002, with 99,000 deaths from those infections.

The Associated Press

ALBANY - A new report says New York hospitals had a higher rate of infection in surgical intensive care units in 2007 than the rest of the nation.

Compared to the national average of 2.7 infections per 1,000 days of central-line treatment, New York surgical intensive care units had 3.7 per 1,000.

A central line is a tube into a major vein that allows doctors to administer medication or monitor a health condition. They can lead to infection.

The report on hospital acquired infections was conducted by the state Department of Health in compliance with a 2005 law that required New York to track statewide infection trends.

The data for 2007 are not broken down by hospital, but next year that information will be provided for hospitals in 2008. That information will allow New Yorkers to learn whether they have a higher risk for certain procedures involving lines inserted into major veins at their local hospital compared to the rest of the state.

New York City had a lower rate than upstate hospitals of blood stream infections associated with those “central lines” in medical and surgical ICUs.

In New York City, 2.8 out of 1,000 central lines at medical ICUs resulted in blood stream infections.

Another 2.7 out of 1,000 surgical ICU central lines resulted in blood stream infection. That's compared to 3.6 out of 1,000 at upstate medical ICUs and 4.8 out of 1,000 at upstate surgical ICUs.

For the 2007 pilot year, the state's reporting system tracked central line-associated blood stream infections in critical care unit patients and surgical site infections associated with colon and coronary artery bypass graft procedures.

New York state had a lower rate of central line infections in pediatric and coronary intensive care units than the rest of the country. New York had only 2.2 infections per 1,000 procedures in coronary ICUs compared with 2.8 nationally, and 4 per 1,000 in the pediatric ICUs compared to 5.3 nationally.

The national numbers used for comparison can be incomplete because not all hospitals report the information to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We have done more than other states to make sure our reporting system captures useful data,” said Dr. Richard Daines, the state health commissioner. “Monitoring infections just to create a report won't solve the problem. The state is working with hospitals to identify risk factors for infection and interventions to reduce those risks.”

The audits revealed an increased incidence of infection for patients with multiple central lines and those whose lines were placed in the intensive care unit rather than before hospital admission.

The surveillance system used to collect data allowed hospitals to immediately use the information by calculating trends over time and comparing their infection rates with national rates.

The CDC estimated 1.7 million health care-associated infections in 2002, with 99,000 deaths from those infections.