What are hospital-acquired infections?

A hospital-acquired infection is when someone gets sick from germs they catch while staying in the hospital.

Imagine you're at a big, busy playground, that's like a hospital. You’re playing with your friends (the other patients), and sometimes people cough or sneeze (like spreading germs). If you touch something they touched, like a toy or a slide, and then you put your hand in your mouth, poof, you might get sick too!

That’s what happens with hospital-acquired infections. When you're in the hospital, there are lots of people around who might be sick, and germs can spread easily through things like:

• shared toys (like IV stands or bed rails)
• dirty hands from doctors or nurses
• medical tools that aren’t cleaned properly

Sometimes people get a tiny bit of bacteria on their skin while getting a shot, and it turns into a bigger problem.

It’s like when you borrow your friend’s snack, if they have germs on their hands, you might end up with the same snack and the germs!

That’s why hospitals work hard to keep things clean so everyone can stay healthy.