Hospitalization is supposed to make people well. But on a given day, an estimated 1 in 31 hospitalized patients contracts an infection from the hospital itself, and tens of thousands die annually. Many of these infections are antibiotic-resistant, and treating them contributes to the evolution of new "superbugs."
But now, researchers have a new idea for preventing hospital-acquired infections: a vaccine that puts the immune system on short-term high alert for a broad array of pathogens.
