One of the major causes of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients presently are hospital-acquired infections (HAI), according to the World Health Organization. Also known as nosocomial infections, HAIs are mostly caused due to bacteria. As antibiotics are utilized frequently within hospital settings, the types of bacteria and their resistance to antibiotics is different than that of bacteria outside of the hospital. HAIs result in an enormous rise in the cost of the hospital care and further leads to the emergence of new health hazards for the community.
While some advances have been made when it comes to controlling infections spreading in hospitals, advancements in therapeutics and biomedical technology are further producing larger number of highly susceptible patients. Ascribed to this, the need for HAI diagnostics is increasing rapidly. According to a report by P&S Intelligence, in 2016, the global hospital-acquired infection diagnostics market attained a value of $2,657.6 million and is expected to reach a value of $4,386.6 million by 2023, progressing at a 7.6% CAGR during the forecast period (2017–2023). The products used for diagnosing HAIs are instruments and reagents & consumables, between which, the demand for reagents & consumable was higher due to the expansion in the molecular diagnostic testing volumes.
The diagnosis of these infections is done using urinalysis, immunoassay, and molecular diagnostics tests. Because of the rising prevalence of HAIs such as surgical site infections, UTIs, bloodstream infections, and gastrointestinal infections, the demand for immunoassay test was the highest in the past. Apart from this, the utilization of molecular diagnostics is expected to increase significantly in the coming years, on account of the growing awareness and acceptance of personalized medicines, surging prevalence of infectious diseases, and growth in the biomarker identification. In 2017, the largest number of HAIs were caused in hospitals.
Hence, the demand for HAI diagnosis is rising because of the rising prevalence of infectious diseases and technological advancements.
