NEW YORK (AP) — Hospitals sweep, swap and sterilize, but they can't seem to stop the spread of germs.
Health officials say 1 in 20 patients get a hospital-spread infection, and some of those are from hard-to-treat superbugs. The growing threat of these dangerous germs is driving hospitals to try new approaches, like costly new robot-like machines to wipe them out.
But there is no good national evidence that these products reduce deaths or infection rates. Some health officials say rigorous cleaning with bleach and other standard cleaning products should do the job.
Meanwhile, the government is cutting back Medicare payments to hospitals who can't keep infections under control.
