AI Tackles Hospital Infections: Machine Learning Is Helping Clinicians.

Abstract

For Ashley Zappia (Figure 1), getting her hands dirty was part of her job. Even though she always tried to remain as clean as possible, her work as a nursing aide at a Southern California hospital required a lot of diapering, changing, and other hands-on tasks. She was mostly in the ER, where physical contact with bodily fluids from sick patients was normal. She was careful to wash her hands frequently, even though she almost always wore gowns and gloves with all patients. Every time she left or entered a room, she lathered her hands in hand-sanitizer gel. Just 27 years old, she was young and healthy. On paper, she was at low risk for infection. That?s why, at first, she thought little of a urinary tract infection (UTI) that seemed to appear out of nowhere.