USA: Infections Sending More Seniors to Hospitals than in the Past

NEW YORK, NY (NewsInferno.com), December 1, 2005: A report in the "Archives of Internal Medicine" finds that a greater number of senior citizens are being hospitalized for infectious diseases. This increase over the last ten years could be because America’s aging population is increasing. According to the study, the elderly now comprise about 13% of the U.S. population. Researchers estimate that by 2030 the demographic will increase to 20% of the population. The number of people 85 and older will probably double over the next quarter century The data for the research, conducted by Aaron Curns, MPH, of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was taken from an annual study of patients discharged from U.S. hospitals. The researchers compared two years worth of records from1990 to 1992 with those from a decade later from 2000 to 2002. Results showed that infection-related hospitalizations increased 13% in the elderly over the course of ten years. Overall, during this period, there were upwards of 21 million infection-related hospitalizations for older Americans. Those over 85 were at the highest risk for being hospitalized due to infections compared to people aged 65-84. Furthermore, infections comprised a significant number of the total hospitalizations among the elderly. The researchers emphasized that the elderly are easily susceptible to infections and suggested measures that could prevent these illnesses. These include a healthy diet, exercise, monitoring of heart disease and diabetes, and increased coverage of vaccines against flu and pneumococcal disease. The authors also suggested medical improvements including new vaccines, therapies that target infection-causing microbes, and implementing measures to minimize the chance of infections after surgeries. On a positive note, the study found that older people spent less time in the hospital with infections in 2002 and that slightly less people died from infection-related hospitalizations