Poor hygiene in the U.S. hospitals may contribute to 103,000 deaths per year

MRSA increased from 2 % of staph infections to 60 % since 1974. During the same period in some European countries, hand washing and cleaning of equipment lead to MRSA infection rate of below 1 %.

According to NYTimes, too few hospitals in the United States are using these precautions, and as a consequence 1 out of 20 patients develops an infection during a hospital stay.

Drug-resistant bacteria live and are transmitted to patients through linen, clothes, keyboards, stethoscopes, and other objects. At CWRU/SVCH, we are conducting a study to evaluate the degree of contamination of the residents' PDAs (thanks for the idea to Leo from MedPDA).

References:
Coming Clean - NYTimes
'Super' bacteria live on sheets, fingernails-study - Reuters