Every year in the United States approximately 2 million patients develop hospital-acquired infections, from which up to 100,000 die. Of all patients entering a hospital, 5-10% contract a drug-resistant infection that they did not have prior to admission.

There are over 40 million surgical procedures in the United States per year for which patients are admitted to a hospital or surgical center. Since this represents only a portion of the millions of hospitalizations associated with nonsurgical procedures, the potential for morbidity and mortality becomes a significant consideration.