HAIs are defined as infections that are acquired by patients while hospitalised, providing the patient was not incubating that infection when they were admitted.
While there is research into the link between cell phone usage and HAIs in South Africa, published in the Southern African Journal of Infectious Diseases in May 2016, the authors of the study admit that their sample size was small. Of the 100 mobile phones sampled in the research, 30 were contaminated with bacteria.
The research noted that: “This is lower than the prevalence found in other studies, but still of concern in view of the possible risk factor for the spread of infection”.
There is little available data on the prevalence of HAIs because surveillance of these infections is “neglected and poorly resourced”, according to another research paper published in the South African Medical Journal.
“Ultimately, unless we understand the burden of HAIs there is little we can do about them and currently, very few SA healthcare facilities understand their own HAI burden at a sufficiently detailed level,” the paper says.
South Africa has no national standardised surveillance system for HAIs which makes it difficult to assess the prevalence of the issue in the country and develop necessary strategies to combat it.
Graham Anderson, CEO and principal officer of Profmed, has called on both private and public sector hospitals to implement systems and dedicated teams to monitor HAIs. He says a contributing factor behind a lack of resources in HAI surveillance is the fact that this type of system requires significant investment from hospitals. “The existing research shows, however, that a better understanding of HAIs provides significant benefits through more targeted interventions and efficient use of resources.”
