Report- Hospital infections increasing

CHICAGO - About 103,000 deaths were linked to hospital infections in 2000 -- a figure 14 percent higher than government estimates -- and nearly 75 percent of the deaths were preventable, the Chicago Tribune reported.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year calculated 90,000 deaths in 2000 were linked to hospital infections, the fourth leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease, cancer and strokes.

Many of the deaths were caused by unsanitary facilities, germ-laden instruments and unwashed hands, the newspaper said.

According to the report, infection rates were exacerbated by hospital cutbacks and carelessness by doctors and nurses.