MicrobeWorld

There's a 1-in-10 chance that the next time you go to the hospital for surgery, you may get an infection -- and it could be deadly. Those findings are contained in a new survey sponsored by The Partnership for Quality Care (PQC) and Kaiser Permanente.

The report shows many Americans want hospitals to do a better job of protecting their patients from potentially deadly bacteria.

The Partnership says 84 percent of Americans surveyed support infection-reduction programs in hospitals. George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, says hospitals need to be more focused on infection prevention.

"The death rate from sepsis is twice as high in hospitals as the death rate from cancer," he says.